David Toms may have taken the main prize in the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play at La Costa Resort and Spa with a 6 and 5 victory over Chris DiMarco in the 36 hole final, but Retief Goosen also left California a winner, beating Ian Poulter at the 20th hole of a compelling third place play-off match to move top of The European Tour Order of Merit.
Toms, beaten by Tiger Woods in the 2003 final at the Carlsbad venue, ensured there would be no repeat with a comfortable victory over his old college friend and American Ryder Cup team-mate DiMarco, who was steamrollered in a one-sided affair.
Ironically, Toms did not get off to the best start in the morning round but the 38 year old from Louisiana soon made amends with a stunning run of holes, winning eight out of nine from the ninth to race to seven up.
Things started going badly for DiMarco when he drove into the rough on the ninth and bogeyed. Toms then birdied three of the next four and went four up after his opponent missed another fairway on the 14th.
A pitch to 11 feet gave Toms the 15th as well before DiMarco three putted the next and failed to get up and down from just short of the green at the 17th. In total, the New Yorker covered the stretch in a dismal four over par before bringing his deficit back to six and making his lunch taste a little better with a 12 foot birdie putt on the 18th green.
It still left DiMarco a monumental task to get back into the match and the 36 year old knew he had to win a few holes early in the afternoon round to make that a possibility. However, the steadiness of Toms’ play made that virtually impossible and when they halved the first five holes to maintain Toms’ six hole lead, it quickly became clear it would be a matter of when Toms was going to win, not if.
The answer to that question came at the 13th with a half in birdie three, but only after DiMarco mounted a mini revival. Nine down with ten to play, after Toms won the sixth, seventh, and eighth, the match looked all but over, but DiMarco took the ninth, tenth and 12th to prolong matters, before finally running out of holes.
“I thought I was going to win the match real early but I think as I said to you yesterday, I knew Chris was going to hang in there and he proved that, I was just glad to get it done in the end,” said Toms, who picked up a first prize of €994,260 (£686,052).
“I just had a calm about me all week and I think it was the best week of driving I have ever had in competition. I have won a few tournaments along the way but I have never felt this at ease.
“I am not saying it was easy, and it is a bit strange because I wasn’t playing that well coming into the week, but for some reason I just felt at peace out there and saw all the shots. It was fun too and I love match play, it gets me focused as I love the head-to-head aspect of it and I can’t wait to come back next year.”
DiMarco said: “I definitely lost it on the back nine this morning. You can’t lose eight holes out of nine in match play, that makes things kind of difficult. But David played solid. He hit it down the middle and on the green and deserved his victory. They certainly have a good champion in him.”
While Toms celebrated, Retief Goosen also left the course with a smile on his face after overcoming his fellow European Tour Member Ian Poulter at the 20th hole of a thrilling third place play-off which preceeded the afternoon round of the final on the course, but ended up finishing an hour and a half later!
It might have played second final to the main event but nevertheless the golf was sensational, especially on the back nine where no less than five holes out of six from the tenth were halved in birdies.
With both players firing on all cylinders it was no surprise that the match went into extra holes and, fittingly for what had gone before, it ended in dramatic fashion on the 15th green, their second extra hole after having played the tenth previously.
With Poulter having narrowly shaved the right edge of the hole with his birdie attempt from 25 feet, Goosen proceeded to pitch in from off the right edge of the putting surface for his winning birdie three, having pushed his approach shot right of the green.
"It was a tough match because both Ian and myself played very well," said Goosen. "On the back nine we were both about seven under which was good for the match and good for the confidence. After yesterday, it is nice to finish third."
Poulter said: "It was a hell of a match to play in, at times it was just ridiculous, it was putt after putt after putt after putt going in. I'm pleased with the way I played today and I can't do anything about my opponent - playing Retief you kind of reckon he is going to make a few birdies too."
The match ended another highly successful week for The European Tour contingent in southern California which started numbering 23 and which ended with two players involved in the final day’s action.
Of the starting line-up, 14 European Tour Members made it through to the second round, while six – Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Goosen, Nick O’Hern, Poulter and Adam Scott – progressed through to round three.
Of that group, unquestionably the result of the second round was provided by O’Hern who beat defending champion Tiger Woods 3 and 1, but the best golf was played by Poulter, who was six under par in beating Stuart Appleby 6 and 5, the perfect way to follow up his opening day 3 and 1 victory over Jim Furyk, where he had been seven under par for the 17 holes.
Four players – Goosen, O’Hern, Poulter and Scott – made it to the quarter finals and there was perhaps a hint of satisfaction that the two who did not – Donald and Garcia – at least fell at the hands of fellow European Tour Members O’Hern and Scott.
Sadly for the two Australians, the quarter-finals proved the end of their respective roads, O’Hern going down 3 and 1 to Poulter while Scott fell 2 and 1 to Toms and while the two European Tour representatives battled bravely in Saturday’s semi-finals, they were to lose out ultimately to their American opponents, Poulter succumbing 3 and 2 to Toms, while Goosen lost 2 and 1 to DiMarco.
