What a Day!

Jason wins Match Play on 23rd hole

MARANA, Ariz. — Jason Day never stopped believing he would win the Match Play Championship, even in the midst of so many shots by Victor Dubuisson that simply defied belief.

With his ball at the base of a cactus, Dubuisson took an allornothing swing though the sharp needles and a TV cable and incredibly hit it to 4 feet to save par. Seemingly out of it on the next playoff hole, the 23yearold Frenchman somehow whacked a wedge through a desert bush and rocks and onto the green for another par.

Day finally ended the madness Sunday on the 23rd hole with a pitch to 4 feet on No. 15 for birdie.

It was the first time the championship match went overtime since the inaugural year in 1999 at La Costa.

“Those two shots were amazing,” Dubuisson said. “I just played it like I had nothing to lose.”

Day, with his first World Golf Championship, walked away with his second PGA Tour title that will take the Australian to No. 4 in the world.

Two holes down with two holes to play, Dubuisson rapped in a 15foot birdie putt on the 17th hole and then took advantage of a rare lapse by Day, who bogeyed the 18th hole with a threeputt from 50 feet on the upper tier. The Frenchman saved par from the bunker to force extra holes.

After matching bogeys and pars on the next two holes, the match ended on the 333yard 15th hole when Dubuisson’s drive strayed too far right into side of a hill, leaving him an awkward pitch.

“I’m disappointed because I made some terrible shots,” Dubuisson said, ignoring the two that were as close to a miracle as golf allows.

Day won $1.53 million. Lost in all the theater was that he never trailed over the final 53 holes of this fickle tournament.

Dubuisson earned $906,000, all but assuring a PGA Tour card for next year. And he all but clinched a spot on the Ryder Cup team in September, moving to the top of the points table by the equivalent of about $1.5 million.

Dubuisson wound up beating Els with a par on the 18th hole to meet Day, who beat Rickie Fowler 3 and 2.

Fowler beat Els in 19 holes in the thirdplace match.