MARANA, Ariz. (AP) a' For such a unpredictable format, the Match Play Championship sure does appear to develop the right champion. Matt Kuchar had reason to pack a full suitcase for the high desert of Arizona predicated on his record in this tournament. He's the only player to reach the quarterfinals every one of the last three years, and he wound up losing to the ultimate champion the previous 2 times. Sunday he went the exact distance to recapture his first World Golf Championship. Kuchar became only the second person in the 15-year record of the Match Play to win without ever seeing the 18th hole except in a round, or when the courtesy van ferrying him in after winning a match drove past the final hole on the solution to the clubhouse. He enjoyed 96 holes in six rounds and only trailed after four of them. He built a lead over Hunter Mahan in the championship match and held off a fierce rally on the rear nine at Dove Mountain to shut him out, 1 and 2, and put his name to an impressive listing of winners. "Match play I find to be this kind of remarkable, special format, so much entertaining to play and so much pressure," Kuchar said. "It may seem like each hole there is so much impetus using and so much pressure on every hole. after six suits of playing the top 64 guys in the entire world ahead from top, it is an amazing feeling." One reason the PGA Championship deserted match play in 1958 was that the field was cut in half after each round, giving the crowd fewer participants to watch. Once the greatest stars were eradicated and it had been miserable for television. That much hasn't changed. Padraig Harrington left on Thursday for the second year in a line, and the only real reason he lasted that long was as a result of snowstorm on Wednesday. He lost in the first round, as did Rory McIlroy, the No. 1 person on earth. By the weekend, the seed remaining was Masters champ Bubba Watson. But a look will show that contest is gained by some of the best in match play. Kuchar's document improved to 15-3. His last win came at the cost of Mahan, who'd won 11 straight matches in this function a' 12 general relationship to his singles win in the 2011 Presidents Cup a' and had a shocking streak of 169 holes without looking. The past four winners were Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Geoff Ogilvy and Woods, all of them considered the best in the head-to-head game that numerous feel to be the purest kind of golf. Donald has a 17-8 record in this tournament alone, which does not talk with his prowess in the Ryder Cup. Poulter had a report in match play global the past 36 months, although he wound up losing twice in one day on Sunday a to Mahan in the semifinals, and to Jason Day in a consolation match. Ogilvy was worried at failing to qualify in 2010, and it's easy to see why. He has a 20-5 record at the Match Play, with two wins and three visits to the title match. Ogilvy never lost in singles in the Presidents Cup, with two of the benefits over Steve Stricker. Woods, obviously, needs no introduction when it comes to Complement Play. He won six straight USGA games as an amateur, and despite having a new downturn at Dove Mountain a' he has didn't escape the 2nd round since he won in 2008 a' his general record in this structure as a professional is 48-15-2. Mahan had to take down Poulter in the semifinal, and it absolutely was no picnic. Mahan twice hit tough chips to within 6 feet to win a, and he chipped in from 70 feet behind the 12th green to grab a 3-up cause and shore in against the Englishman, who had been off his game for the reason that match. As difficult as Poulter is in match play, Mahan knew that Kuchar would be just as hard in their own way. "It was absolutely an alternative atmosphere, for sure," Mahan said. "Kooch and I had more conversation on the first hole than I did with Poulter all day long. But that is the difference involving the two guys. There's nothing wrong with it in any event. Poults is very steely available. He urges himself in an alternative way than Kooch does." Poulter and Mahan learned a vintage lesson the hard way. There is no good amount of time in this tournament bad time to have. Some people will get away with one in the first rounds, but not late in the group when those people who are left got there for grounds. When Mahan struck a weak pitch up the mountain on No. 4 and made bogey, he covered it more ways than one. It absolutely was the very first time he trailed in any fit because the sixth hole of the opening round a year ago. And he trailed Kuchar, would you maybe not make many mistakes. Kuchar developed a lead at the start the effectiveness of two poor bogeys and two great birdies from Mahan, nevertheless the defending champion fought straight back. He won the next two holes, both right into a fierce, cold wind, that the cut debt in half and gave loads to Mahan of momentum. On the par-3 12th and he then hit an 8-iron into 10 feet. That is where in fact the match made in Kuchar's favor. He followed having an 8-iron to just inside 15 legs, still a hard putt. "The picture was truly good, but the putt was really crucial, and like I was still in get a grip on of the match," Kuchar when that went in, I felt said. "Had that putt maybe not gone in, it would have now been only a 1-up cause, and I do believe the match was in anybody's arms at that point." Mahan kept fighting and trailed by one opening once they surely got to the 17th, and an interesting back eight ended with a thud. Both struck into the fairway bunker on 17, but Mahan's ball was slightly sunk in the sand, and his method never came near to attaining the green. Rather, it rolled through a area of desert until it set in a bush. Mahan got four shots to attain the green and conceded the match. Kuchar won for the fifth time in his career, pocketing just over $3.2 million for his last two titles a the WGC and The Players Championship. He moved to No. 8 in the world and will be looked through to as a contender in the majors this season. And now, no-one will soon be fooled by Kuchar's easy smile and happy-go-lucky nature once they come back to Dove Mountain next year. "He does it differently," Mahan said. "He is a lot more like a, Peter Jacobsen kind of person who loves to speak. He is very competitive, there's undoubtedly about any of it. Golf is played by him to win, and he works hard at it."
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