Luke Donald and Matt Kuchar on Saturday at WGC-Accenture
Luke Donald had polished off two victories in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship before the clock even struck 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Donald’s golf was nearly flawless on a windy day at Dove Mountain. He didn’t go past the 14th hole in either the morning quarterfinals of the all-important afternoon semis where he made short work of Matt Kuchar, winning by a 6 and 5 score.
“It’s nice to get done early,” Donald said. “This was a long day. … It will give me more energy for tomorrow.
Donald’s impressive run means there will be Brit playing for the championship on Sunday for the third straight year. And if he wins, Donald will become the No. 3 player in the world – the highest ranking of his career.
The Englishman, who is currently ranked 10th, has never been higher than sixth.
"I won’t be focusing on the World Rankings, those kind of things take care of themselves," Donald said. "That would be an added bonus. I’ll be concentrating on trying to beat whoever I’m playing against and trying to pick up a trophy."
With rain and snow in the forecast, though, Donald knows Dove Mountain will be a different golf course on Sunday.
“I’s going to be quite a bit colder, and the ball is not going to be traveling so far,” said Donald, who has one of the best short games on the PGA TOUR.
The tone for the semifinal was set early. With five birdies in his first nine holes, Donald made the turn 6 up on Kuchar. He did lose two holes on the back nine but earned the victory with a 6-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole.
Kuchar knew he ran into a buzz-saw on Saturday afternoon so he couldn’t be too disappointed.
“As an overall week, yeah, it’s been a good week,’ he said. “Four wins and Luke just played great. … It seemed like every hole he had a 5‑footer for birdie and made it. Tough conditions.
“I enjoy match play. You just never know. Had I got somebody else on today’s round, I may have still been able to come out with a win. But you face Luke Donald on a day he’s really hot, you pack your bags early.”
Kuchar isn’t alone in that assessment this week. In five matches, Donald has never trailed, and he’s yet to play the 18th hole. He’s made 27 birdies and just four bogeys, three of which came in the same match.
All in all, Donald has needed just 73 holes in five matches to reach the championship, which is the fewest number of holes played by any finalist in tournament history. The previous record was 77 holes by Tiger Woods in 2003.
"I’ve been playing good this week," Donald acknowledged. "I’ve been stringing together a lot of good rounds, making birdies, and not too many mistakes. The greens, I haven’t really missed anything. I’ve been tough to beat this week and hopefully that can continue tomorrow."
