PGA Results: 2013 WGC Accenture Match Play Championship

WGC Accenture Match Play Championship Dove Mountain Resort, Marana, Arizona What an interesting week on many levels at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in (supposedly) sunny Arizona.  First of all, Arizona was anything but sunny.  First round play Wednesday was delayed, in some cases all the way until Thursday due to SNOW.  Yes you read that correctly.  For the first two mornings the ground was covered in snow.  Through the end of the tournament temperatures were very cold, forcing players to wear multiple layers and golf beanies. The 2nd interesting occurrence was the "bracket busting" ouster of many of the top seeds in the first round.  Top seed Rory McIlory, sporting all new Nike equipment, was defeated by fellow Irishman Shane Lowry 1-down in the first round.  2nd seed Tiger Woods lost to Charles Howell III 2&1 (two down with one hole to play) in the first round.  Other big names who made an early exit in the first round included Lee Westwood, Ernie Els, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson and David Toms. The final four Sunday morning was comprised of the two best match play players around, Hunter Mahan and Ian Poulter.  Joining them in the final four were the steady Matt Kuchar and the surprising and powerful Jason Day.  Kuchar defeated Day 4&3 and Mahan defeated Poulter 4&3 in the semi final round. The final match found Matt Kuchar defeating Mahan 2&1.  In the battle for 3rd place, and higher money and FedEx Cup points, Day defeated Poulter 1UP. LPGA Tour Siam Country Club, Pattaya Old Course Chonburi, Thailand Not a bad start to the 2013 LPGA Tour season for 2012 money title winner Inbee Park. Park unexpectedly secured a one shot victory. Unexpectedly because when she'd finished her round she was trailing Ariya Jutanugarn by two shots. Ariya Jutanugarn held a two shot lead on the 18th tee. The pressure proved to be too much as Ariya struggled on the final hole. She was left with a three foot putt for double bogey to force a playoff. She missed, handing the victory to Inbee Park.

“On No. 17 when I missed that birdie putt I thought that this game might be over because she was at 14 [under-par] and it was a two-stroke lead coming into the last hole. I knew she was a long hitter so she had a chance to go ahead. So yeah I just didn’t expect this kind of finish. Out of all the other wins, this win just felt like it was not as much work this week. It was a lot easier this week for me. But I really want to congratulate Ariya for her fantastic golf the last four days. She has a lot of fans out here and she’s very talented. So I think I’ll be seeing more of her.” ~Inbee Park