FINALLY, DAY HAS HIS WAY
MARANA, ARIZ. Jason Day finally put away Victor Dubuisson.
And finally won his second PGA Tour title.
The bomber from Down Under overcame losing the final two holes in regulation and then two astounding recovery shots by the Frenchman on the first two extra holes and ended the match on the 23rd hole with a putt from 31⁄ feet to win the World
2 Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain.
Day, 26, who said after winning his quarterfinal match Saturday that he was “sick and tired” of seconds, thirds and fourths and wanted to win, has lost one match in the last two years here — to eventual champion Matt Kuchar in last year’s semifinals.
“It was a long day in the sun,” said Day, whose first Tour title came in the 2010 HP Byron Nelson Championship. “Coming down the stretch, Vic was just unbelievable, especially out of the cactus. There were a couple times I thought he was dead and the tournament was mine. For a 23year-old kid, he has a lot of game and you’ll be hearing from him for a long time.”
The match looked over on the 17th hole, but Dubuisson made a 13-foot putt for birdie to win the hole.
It looked over again on 18, but Dubuisson got up-and-down from a greenside bunker with a 4- footer to send it into a playoff.
Then Dubuisson made two outrageous up-and-down saves from the desert on the first two playoff holes to extend the match. On the first playoff hole, Dubuisson airmailed his approach, which landed near a cactus under a bush. He slashed at the ball and the shot stopped within 4 feet, from where he made the putt.
On the next hole, Dubuisson
“There were a couple times I thought he was dead and the tournament was mine.” Jason Day on his opponent, Victor Dubuisson
pulled his approach into the desert and the ball came to rest near rocks and under the remains of a dead bush. Again, he slashed at the ball and somehow it came to rest 10 feet from the cup. The shot left Day laughing and wondering what he had to do to win.
After each failed to get up-anddown on the third playoff hole, they made par on the fourth playoff hole. On the fifth and final playoff hole, the drivable par-4 15th, Dubuisson’s short-game magic vanished as he couldn’t get up-and-down from the right of the green, missing a 30-foot putt.
Day, who played 113 holes this week, has become a regular contender in major championships — six top-10s in his last 11 starts in majors — but desperately wanted win No. 2. Now he said he’s better equipped to win a major.
“I never wanted something so bad in my life,” said Day, who will move to No. 4 in the world rankings. “I envisioned myself holding the trophy. I just had to do everything I could to win the match.”
Dubuisson has now made a name for himself in the USA, af- ter winning last year’s Turkish Airlines Open, where he toppled Tiger Woods, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose in the process. Playing in his first pro match-play tournament, he fell just short of becoming the first French-born player to win on the PGA Tour.
But his recent play, four topfives and a tie for 20th in his last five starts, will move him from No. 139 in the world rankings to inside the top 30 today. And he’s earned a trip to the Masters.
“I’m a little bit happy but at the same time disappointed,” Dubuisson said. “I didn’t play very well, but I battled.”
In the semifinals Sunday morning, Day beat Rickie Fowler 3 and 2 while Dubuisson defeated Ernie Els 1 up. Fowler topped Els in the consolation match with a birdie on the first playoff hole.