Day in Review: Rounds 4 and 5, Accenture Match Play
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
MARANA, Ariz. -- Thrilling comebacks. Close encounters with the cacti. The whims and winds of Mother Nature. And in the end, two Ryder Cup teammates set to decide the title.
Saturday's double round at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship had it all. Here are some of the highlights.
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BEST MATCH: Nothing could match Bubba Watson's gritty comeback from 5 down with seven holes remaining in his quarterfinal match with J.B. Holmes. Watson, who had never trailed in his first three matches, won four of his next five holes -- two by concessions and two with birdies -- and then squared the match with a solid par at the 18th hole. Another par after Holmes hit his drive into a bush in the desert gave Watson the hard-fought win. Watson's comeback was one-of-a-kind -- from 2003-2010 a total of 75 players have reached 5 down but none have managed to rally and win.
FASHION STATEMENT: With Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter making early exits, leave it to the normally understated Martin Kaymer to set the trend. The 26-year-old was wearing a blue-and-white scarf around his neck that conjured up images of Lawrence of Arabia.Kaymer called it a "snood" which sent us scrambling for the dictionary -- and when we looked the word up we were confused even more. By definition, a snood is a distinctive headband formerly worn by young unmarried women in Scotland and northern England.
Actually, Kaymer's wrap is called a "Buff" and it's made by Black Fish Outfitter, which is based in Jacksonville, Fla. Vaughn Cochran, who owns the company, was driving home from a fishing trip on Saturday when his phone started ringing. Friends were calling to tell him Kaymer was wearing one of the buffs, which can be pulled up over the head and protects against the sun, bugs and wind. He was so excited, he wanted to send Kaymer the whole line.
Kaymer said he got the wrap on Friday to stay warm, "I heard a lot of guys in soccer they are using that. ... Maybe it's a European thing. Maybe we'll see it more often on the PGA TOUR." The 26-year-old, who stayed at his home in Scottsdale to prepare for the Accenture Match Play Championship, wasn't expecting the dramatic drop in temperatures. "When you drive only one and a half hours, you're not expecting to bring a sweater, even. But if we needed a turtle neck, I was not expecting that."
FASHION STATEMENT II: Watson is sporting a new watch these days, a timepiece that costs $525,000. He has a sponsorship deal with Richard Mille, who has created the RM 038 TOURBILLION Bubba Watson that is designed to resist shock and acceleration. The watch will be produced as a limited edition of 38. When mentioning the watch after his semifinal loss to Martin Kaymer, a reporter suggested Watson was doing well even in defeat. "Bubba is doing great," Watson said, reverting to the third person again.
NUMBERS GAME: Regardless of what happens on Sunday, Kaymer is assured of taking over the No. 1 ranking in the world now that he has reached the championship match. Kaymer will be the second player to own the No. 1 ranking since Tiger Woods relinquished it after a run of 281 straight weeks on Oct. 31. The young German can also do something only Woods has done at the Accenture Match Play Championship -- win as the No. 1 seed. Woods did that three times (2003, 2004 and 2008).
Truth be told, though, Kaymer, who won the PGA Championship last year, was a little uncomfortable when reporters questioned him about how it felt to be No. 1 -- joining Bernhard Langer as only the second German to hold that spot. He joked that he would probably take a picture of the rankings once the lineup becomes official on Monday. First, though, Kaymer has a tournament to win.
Definitely I need some time to think about it," Kaymer said. "The good thing is next week I don't play a tournament, so maybe I can realize what happened. But I can say one thing for sure, you know, it's a very proud moment. Not only for me, I think for my family, for the people who helped me and, you know, for Germany, as well."
OVER AND OUT: Luke Donald has only played 73 holes this week to reach the championship match. That's four fewer than the previous record for a finalist, Tiger Woods, in 2003. Think about this, though. Take away that birdie on the 13th in the semifinals that closed out his match with Matt Kuchar and Donald is 22 under for 72 holes at Dove Mountain. That would be enough to win most stroke play events -- bet the guys at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun would love to have that score -- but the Brit's still got another "round" to go with Kaymer on Sunday.
BIG BOPPERS: The quarterfinal match between Watson and Holmes, who ranked Nos. 1 and 3 in driving distance, respectively, was highly anticipated and the two men didn't disappoint. According to ShotLink, Holmes had two drives over 400 yards in the mountain air on Saturday with the longest 413 yards at the second hole. He had 10 drives over 300 yards, as did Watson, whose longest was a 375-yarder on No. 5. Watson, though, had the control when it counted as he rallied from 5 down over the last seven holes to win the match.
LAST WORD: "I think it's very German. If you know Bernhard Langer the way he is on the golf course, I think it's very good for golf." Kaymer on his even-tempered demeanor.
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