Kuchar consistency too much for Mahan

Matt Kuchar’s metronomic consistency proved too much for Hunter Mahan as he chiseled out a 2 and 1 victory over his former Ryder Cup team mate to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at a bitterly cold Dove Mountain last night.

Bringing to an end a week that began with freak snowstorms at the remote Arizona resort, the 34-year-old defied icy winds gusting over 30 mph to defeat the defending champion and claim his fifth PGA Tour victory and a cheque for $1.5m.

Kuchar beat Jason Day 4 and 3 in the morning semi-finals as Mahan stretched his unbeaten run at the Tucson resort to 11 matches by taking down Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter 4 and 3 in one of the surprises of the week.

In the final, Kuchar cruised into a four up led through the turn as Mahan dropped four shots in five holes from the fourth.

But while Mahan fought back with birdies to win three of the next five holes to be just two down with four to play, Kuchar closed out an impressive victory. Wielding a long putter braced against his left forearm, Kuchar is not considered to be using an anchored stroke, which golf’s governing bodies are proposing to ban this spring.

The RA and the United States Golf Association (USGA) proposed the rule change last November with a 90-day comment period coming to end this Thursday.

The PGA of America is against the ban and the PGA Tour has followed suit, officially announcing last night it has notified golf’s governing bodies that its members have told them to express their opposition.

Speaking at Dover Mountain, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said: “Our view is that it’s (anchoring) been around for a generation, and the game of golf has done quite well.

“So unless you have a compelling reason to change it, you shouldn’t, and the USGA has indicated there is no performance advantage to using anchoring.” Whether this leads to a stand off between the governing bodies and the PGA Tour and the implementation of two sets of rules — one for amateurs and another for the PGA Tour — remains to be seen.

Asked if the PGA Tour might go its own way, leading to a chaotic situation, Finchem said: “Well, maybe. But first of all, our rules say we’re going to follow the USGA rules, provided that we maintain the right to differ.

“This is one rule. We’re not interested in getting in the rulemaking business. We like the structure for rules. We’re delighted it’s gotten as transparent as it has, that everybody is invited to give their opinion, whether it’s an equipment matter or not. That’s good.”

As for the golf at Dove Mountain, Poulter admitted he would find it tough to motivate himself for the consolation match even though he was playing for considerable world ranking points and third place money of $615,000 he described as “a little bit of change”.

And so it proved as he lost by one hole to Day, going from two up after six holes to two down after 12 before settling for a cheque for $500,000.

Asked if he felt the United States believed they owed him one after his Medinah heroics, Poulter smiled after his morning defeat to Mahan and said: “I’m sure they did. Oh well, we’ve still got the cup.”

Poulter was still upbeat about the season ahead and his decision to pare back his schedule to avoid a repeat of the case of pneumonia that stuck him down a year ago.

Playing just his second event in eight weeks, he said: “Getting pneumonia last year was a bit of a wake-up call, playing loads of tournaments at the back-end of the year and then going out and playing more at the start of the year – it was too much.

“You have got to take the breaks. You don’t realise what it takes out of you when you go gallivanting about around Asia and all over the place, trying to play golf.

“You have to make sure you do the right work in those six weeks off and you don’t neglect any practice. I’d like to do the same at the end of this year. Take some forced breaks.

“People keep questioning: ‘Why aren’t you playing?’ but you’ve got to do it. There are enough good tournaments in the world to play a decent schedule.”

SATURDAY

R Garrigus lost to M Kuchar 3 2

S Stricker lost to I Poulter 3 2

G McDowell lost to J Day 1 down

W Simpson lost to H Mahan 1 down

SUNDAY

Semi-finals

J Day lost to Matt Kuchar 4 3

H Mahan bt Ian Poulter (Eng) 4 3

Consolation match

J Day beat I Poulte 1 up

Championship game

M Kuchar bt H Mahan 21