Sunday notebook: Accenture Match Play Championship
By PGA TOUR staff
• Matt Kuchar defeated Hunter Mahan 2 and 1 Sunday at Dove Mountain to win the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. In the consolation match, Jason Day edged Ian Poulter 1-up.
• With Matt Kuchar's win at the Accenture Match Play Championship, it continues a streak of Americans winning the first eight events on the PGA TOUR schedule. In 2012, Americans won the first nine events of the 2012 PGA TOUR season; Rory McIlroy broke that streak at The Honda Classic.
• Kuchar was ranked No. 23 and in the Official World Golf Ranking entering the Accenture Match Play Championship. He is the fifth-lowest-ranked player to win the event.
• Both Kuchar and Mahan faced five different countries in their six matches this week. Only Ian Poulter (who won in 2010) and Tiger Woods (who finished second in 2000) faced six different countries in their six matches.
• Updated all-time Accenture Match Play Championship records for the final four players:
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• With Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchar advancing to the finals, it marked the seventh All-American final in the 15-year history of the Accenture Match Play Championship and the first since 2008.
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• The last two years, Matt Kuchar was knocked out of the Accenture Match Play Championship by the eventual champion (losing to Luke Donald, 6 and 5, in the 2011 semifinals; and losing to Hunter Mahan, 6 and 5, in the 2012 quarterfinals). He made sure that didn't happen Sunday, winning the Championship Match, 2 and 1, over defending champion Hunter Mahan for his first World Golf Championships victory.
• Mahan had not trailed at any point during his five previous matches, but he went 1 down to Matt Kuchar after making bogey on No. 4. Both players had bogeyed No. 3 – and Mahan added a third- and fourth-consecutive bogey on Nos. 5-6 to find himself 3 down.
• This is the earliest in the season Kuchar has won a PGA TOUR event (5 victories). The previous earliest was The Honda Classic – March 2002, his first win. His other TOUR wins: Turning Stone Resort Championship (October 2009); The Barclays (August 2010); and THE PLAYERS Championship (May 2012).
• Mahan is the third defending champion to advance to the finals (Geoff Ogilvy in 2007 and Tiger Woods in 2004).
• Mahan was attempting to join Tiger Woods (16) and Geoff Ogilvy (3) as the only players with more than two World Golf Championships titles. Woods and Ogilvy are also the only other players with more than one Accenture Match Play Championship win (Woods: 2003-04, 2008; Ogilvy: 2006, 2009).
• Mahan now owns eight top-10 finishes in 19 career World Golf Championships starts.
| Kuchar's path to the championship match | ||||||
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| Mahan's path to the championship match | ||||||
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• Jason Day battled back from 2 down to Ian Poulter through six holes, winning No. 7 and 8 to square the match. He got to as much as 3 up through 15 holes, but lost No. 16 and 17 with bogeys to give Poulter a window and force the match to No. 18 with Day 1 up. But Poulter could not convert on No. 18, giving Day his best finish in a World Golf Championships event.
• Third-place marks Day's best World Golf Championships finish in eight career starts. His previous best finish is a T4 at the 2011 Bridgestone Invitational. Day will leave this week with three top-10 finishes in four PGA TOUR starts this season (T9-Farmers Insurance Open; 6-Northern Trust Open).
• Poulter was the only English player to advance past the second round, of the six who began the event. This week’s finish will mark his fifth top five in World Golf Championships events; he has two wins, a T2 at the 2006 Cadillac Championship and a fourth-place finish at the 2005 Accenture Match Play Championship.
| Day's path to the consolation match | ||||||
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| Poulter's path to the consolation match | ||||||
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