Kisner gets it right at Match Play event

AUSTIN, Texas — Kevin Kisner made it to the Dell Technologies Match Play final for the second straight year, and this time he got it right.

A week that began with a loss ended with the biggest victory of Kisner’s career when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt to close out Matt Kuchar, 3 and 2, in the chilly championship match at Austin Country Club.

“It was a long week. I prevailed. And I’m a world golf champion,” Kisner said off the 16th green.

He became the first player to win Match Play after losing in the championship match the previous year. That one wasn’t close, as Bubba Watson raced out to a big lead and ended the match in 12 holes.

Kisner never trailed against Kuchar, though it was tight at the turn until Kuchar made too many mistakes. He missed a 12-foot putt on the 10th that would have tied the match, and on his next swing put his tee shot into the water on the par-3 11th.

Kisner, equipped with a 2-up lead, took it from there. He halved holes by making putts from 6 feet and 4 feet, and then seized control on the 15th when Kuchar’s chip was too strong and led to another lost hole.

He won for the third time in his career, this victory worth $1,745,000.

“It’s tough to maintain the high level of play the entire tournament,” Kuchar said. “You hope to do it and I feel like I’ve kind of built a game that I could rely on playing some good, steady golf. But I gave too many holes away. I knew against Kisner I couldn’t do it, and he just plodded along … and let me make mistakes. And that was good playing by Kevin.”

Kisner had to play 120 holes over seven matches in five days, a week that began with a loss to Ian Poulter in group play.