In a tournament peppered with surprises, American journeyman professional Kevin Sutherland completed the theme to perfection when he won the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play at La Costa Resort and Spa to claim his first professional victory.
The 37 year old from Sacramento, who started the tournament as the 62nd out of the 64 ranked players, came from behind to beat his friend and fellow Californian Scott McCarron on the last green of the 36 hole final.
McCarron had been looking for a quick fix to ease the pain of the previous week’s Nissan Open at the Riviera Country Club where he seemed set for a play-off but proceeded to bogey the final hole to hand the title to Len Mattiace. But, agonisingly for the 36 year old, lightning struck twice.
Ahead for most of the morning round and 13 holes of the afternoon, McCarron missed the green at the short 14th and made bogey to see the match levelled before another mistake at the 15th gave Sutherland the lead for the first time in the match, seven hours after the match began.
Despite a wobble on the 16th where he was bunkered and again at the 17th where his drive caught the rough, Sutherland held himself together to make pars on the final three holes, enough to close out the match.
“This is phenomenal,” said Sutherland, who aside from McCarron, accounted for David Duval, Brad Faxon, Jim Furyk, Paul McGinley and David Toms en route to success. “Next to winning a Major, the World Golf Championships events are right there and they are a step above the US PGA Tour events because of the quality of the field.
“The US PGA Tour events are well run and everything but this has 64 of the best players in the world playing and everybody pretty much showed up that wasn’t hurt. So it makes it even more special to beat some of the best players in the world.”
McCarron put a brave face on his disappointment. “I can’t explain it, to lose one week and then to do it again the second week, it’s brutal,” said the man who beat Paul Azinger, Sergio Garcia, Tom Lehman, Colin Montgomerie and Mike Weir on his way to the final.
“But I’m playing better than anyone in the world right now – I really feel that. So I can take that home with me and come out strong at Bay Hill.”
In the consolation match for third and fourth place, Brad Faxon took the honours on the first extra hole. That particular outcome looked unlikely when Paul Azinger stood one up with one to play but a wayward drive at the 18th cost him a bogey five and when he missed the green at the first extra hole, the 450 yard tenth, another bogey five was the outcome and Faxon triumphed with a regulation par four.
