40/1 Luke Donald defeats Kaymer for WGC Accenture Match Play title

England’s Luke Donald overcame Ryder Cup teammate Martin Kaymer 3&2 to capture the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championshiop.

Donald, who had shown throughout the tournament that he is amongst the world’s best when it comes to match play format, was never behind in the match which saw periods of snow and sleet.
Such was Donald’s dominance of the tournament, he never played the 18th hole in any of his matches, as he won for the first time on US soil since the 2006 Honda Classic.

The Englishman was quickly out of the gate, and led Kaymer by 3-up through only five holes before a late wobble on the outward nine saw the German claw the match back to all-square at the turn, but after the pair had halved the tenth hole, Donald regained the winning thread to take the next two holes and re-establish his lead. Kaymer couldn’t respond, but managed to keep the gap at two before Donald birdied the 15th hole to go three up with just three holes remaining.

The Englishman held his nerve to halve the par-3 16th hole and close out the match.

Donald has garnered a reputation as being something of a nearly-man; often getting into winning positions but coming up short. A welcome – and perhaps overdue – win in last year’s Madrid Masters was his first since that 2006 Honda Classic.

“My goal every year is to win tournaments. It’s a long time since I’ve tried to play for money.” Donald said afterwards. “I felt like I hadn’t won my fair share for as good a player as I felt I was and could be. It was frustrating to me.”

“Winning in Europe took a little bit of pressure off but obviously it was a little bit of a smaller event, not a field like this. To come here and compete against the best players in the world and win the trophy is very gratifying. Hopefully I can gain a lot of confidence from it and go on to win more events.”

In the consolation match for third and fourth spot, Matt Kuchar got the better of Bubba Watson by 2&1 in a scrappy match, in which neither player played their best golf.

Donald’s win also gave the YourGolfTravel.com tipster a welcome win after being nominated as one of his quartet for the tournament, and was available prior to the event at 40/1.

The Augusta of the Algarve – Quinta do Lago South

Rare is it for a course to receive such a comparison. However, rare are the qualities of fast running undulating greens meandering through stunning umbrella pine trees.

From the 1st tee shot to the approach on the 18th green, the superb layout tests your shot making abilities to its fullest with only the best shots being rewarded. With many greens featuring almost sheer undulations, approaches which fail to reach the appropriate level will be punished with either a very testing putt or worse still a chip shot. Read more

WGC-Accenture Match Play Third Round Matches Review

From a starting lineup of 64, the WGC-Accenture Match Play tournament has been whittled down to the final 8 players, and another big name crashed out of the tournament.

Ryder Cup player Luke Donald continued his march towards the title with a 3&2 win over Italian Matteo Manassero in the Bobby Jones bracket. Manassero, who had already eliminated Steve Stricker and Charl Schwartzel . Donald led from the outset of the match and the Englishman was four up at the turn and seemingly cruising to victory over the 17-year old Manassero. Another bogey at 10 increased the deficit to five, but Manassero staged a mini-revival to claw back to 3 down through 15 and give himself a chance. But a two-putt par on the 16th by Donald was enough to close out the victory.

Donald will play Ryan Moore for a spot in the semi-finals. Moore defeated Nick Watney at the 19th hole, and again played solidly in his match; rolling in a 11-foot birdie putt to win. It was his sixth birdie of the day, and Moore also made an eagle and one solitary bogey as he saw off Watney, who had eliminated world number one Lee Westwood in the previous round.

4th Round Matches:
Luke Donald v Ryan Moore

The winner of the Bobby Jones bracket will play the winner of the Ben Hogan bracket for a place in the final on Sunday, and it will be either Matt Kuchar or Y.E Yang who progresses to contest the semi-final match.

Kuchar saw off his Ryder Cup team-mate Rickie Fowler 2&1 in an eventful match which took in plenty of the Arizona desert, and had a smattering of penalty shots. Fowler, who had taken the scalp of Phil Mickelson in the previous round was two down after just three holes, but fought back to square the match, before Kuchar edged in front again at the 10th. Kuchar was 3 up after the young American bogeyed the 11th and 12th, before Fowler again battled back to get to within one hole at the 16th. However an approach to within 5 feet for par at the 17th was enough to close the victory as Fowler failed to get up and down from the back of the green.

Y.E. Yang meanwhile eliminated US Open champion Graeme McDowell 3&2, closing out with a chip-in at the 16th hole. McDowell had no answer to Yang’s explosive start, which saw three birdies in his first four holes to open up a 2-hole lead, but dug deep to square the match at the 10th. The pair remained tied until the 14th hole, where Yang stepped up a gear to leave McDowell trailing; the Korean launching a birdie streak that saw him make three consecutive gains to see off the Northern Irishman.
4th Round Matches:
Matt Kuchar v Y.E. Yang

In the Sam Snead group, Bubba Watson demolished former two-time Accenture winner Geoff Ogilvy by 6&4. The big-hitting left hander put on a show of exhibition golf that saw him shoot a theoretical 9-under par score through 14 holes to leave Australian Ogilvy reeling.

Watson was 3 up through the first three holes, and although Ogilvy won the fifth, he couldn’t build on the gain by only halving the 7th hole, despite rolling in a 20-foot putt for birdie. Ogilvy battled on, however, and was only one down at the turn, before Watson kicked up a gear to birdie the 10th hole, before striking his approach to the 11th within 15 feet for a potential eagle. Ogilvy conceded the hole and attempted to regroup on the next, but a bogey put him further behind. He lost more ground when Watson eagled the 13th and put his approach to the 14th inside four feet. Ogilvy ultimately conceded the hole and the match to Bubba, who will now play J.B. Holmes for a place in the semi-final.

Holmes saw off Jason Day by 1-up in a scrappy match that saw both players make a host of mistakes. Day had arrived on the 17th hole for the first time in the tournament, holding a 1-up advantage but he made a hash of the hole, failing to reach the green in regulation and leaving himself a 40-footer to save par and the hole. He failed, and the match was all-square down the last.

Day made a cardinal error on the 18th by finding the back bunker – the last place to be – in two, and his attempt from the sand left him another 40-footer for par. Holmes had found the putting surface in two, and as Day missed his par attempt, was left with two putts for the match. Rolling his first putt inside 2-feet, Day conceded the hole and the match to bring to an end a run that had included the scalp of pre-tournament favourite, Paul Casey.

4th Round Matches:
Bubba Watson v J.B. Holmes

The Gary Player bracket will feature an all-European showdown between Ryder Cup teammates Miguel Angel Jiminez and Martin Kaymer.

Mercurial Spaniard Jiminez demolished Rory McIlroy’s conquerer Ben Crane by a 7&6 scoreline. Crane had perhaps left his game in the previous round when he thrashed the young Irishman, and had no answer to Jiminez as he quickly fell 4-down through four holes. Crane was doing his best to gift Jiminez the match, and three straight bogeys from the 8th hole left him 7-down after 11 holes. Both players halved the next two holes with birdies, leaving Jiminez – the oldest player in the field – to advance to a showdown with Kaymer.

US PGA champion Kaymer had to dig deep to see off the challenge of Hunter Mahan, but did enough to secure a 2&1 victory over the American.

Mahan was quickly out of the starting gate and 2 up through the first two hole. Kaymer fought back to square the match at the 6th hole, but was 2 down again by the time the pair had played the 12th hole. Kaymer fought back again, and the pair were tied again after the 15th hole. However, a birdie at the 16th saw the German finally in front in the match, and he closed out the win with a par on the 17th.

4th Round Matches:
Miguel Angel Jiminez v Martin Kaymer

Doral Golf Resort Review

Just back from my golf holidays to Doral so thought I’d let you know about it. Doral has five courses and all are worth experiencing. The shortest and most user friendly of the group is the Red course and while perhaps not worth making the trip for in its own right it is certainly worth playing during your visit. It has the feel of a strong ladies/seniors course with most of the holes being nicely shaped but lacking in any real length. The Gold course is still reasonably short but is more challenging than the red with water in play on more holes Read more

Golf Picture of the Week – Dove Mountain

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