Luke Donald Comes up Short at Masters

Luke Donald

Luke Donald admitted he 'came up short' after he finished in a share of fourth at the Masters.

Donald had gone in to the tournament on the back of his victory in the par-three warm-up event.

And although no player has subsequently gone on to then win the Masters, Donald looked like he could finally end that jinx.

The WGC-Accenture Match Play champion was right in the mix for the title until the 12th, when his tee-shot led back into Rae's Creek.

Donald rallied with four birdies, though, to finish on 10-under for the tournament alongside Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvy.

"It was, I imagine, one of the best Masters to watch," said Donald.

"I dug deep after that five at 12 but unfortunately I've come up short. It was a roller-coaster, but I gave it my best shot."

Justin Rose and Lee Westwoos were the next Brits on the leaderboard, with the duo in a share of 11th with Steve Stricker and Edoardo Molinari.

A final-round 68 completed a superb turnaround for Rose, who had been in danger of missing the cut halfway through his second round.

Westwood, though, saw his hopes derailed with a double-bogey at the 12th - with last year's runner-up eventually carding a 70.

And Westwood was left to rue his putting as finished nine shots off the pace.

"I'm very, very frustrated," he said. "I played tee to green like a man who should have won the tournament but I was abysmal on the greens.

"I went to the belly putter today which I haven't used for six years.

"What's bugging me is that I can't hit the hole from four feet. I gave myself so many chances so to finish on five under is a killer."

Ross Fisher finished on four-under for the tournament, with a double bogey at the 16th hampering his bid to climb the leaderboard.

Scotland's Martin Laird was a shot further back after a pleasing debut at Augusta, while Ian Poulter struggled all day before finishing one-under overall. 

Paul Casey ended on one-over after a closing 71.

Donald is February Golfer of the Month

Luke Donald

Luke Donald has been named European Tour Golfer of the Month for February following his convincing victory in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at Ritz Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, Arizona, Tucson.

Donald, 33, who was never behind in any of his six matches, displayed a showcase of fine match play golf, a format in which he has excelled since his amateur years.

The 33-year-old from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, receives an engraved alms dish and a jeroboam of Moët and Chandon champagne in recognition of his achievement.

Donald did not play the 18th hole once as he saw off American Charley Hoffman, Italians Edoardo Molinari and Matteo Manassero, Ryan Moore and Matt Kuchar, both of the United States, to set up a mouth-watering final against 2010 Ryder Cup team-mate Martin Kaymer.

Despite it being only his second event of the year, Donald’s impressively accurate short game and exquisite touch around the greens were in evidence as he beat the German, who the day before had officially become the new World Number One.

It was Donald’s fourth victory on The European Tour International Schedule – and first in a World Golf Championship event – and it propelled him from ninth to a career-high third in the Official World Golf Ranking, behind Kaymer and Lee Westwood and one ahead of Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell.

“I’m very pleased and proud to have won this award, especially considering the incredible talent competing for the honour,” said Donald. “I was delighted with my recent win at the WGC-Accenture World Match Play and I look forward to building on that early-season victory for a strong season.”

Donald’s record in match play is magnificent and in Arizona he showed just why he is one of the world’s most feared opponents in the format. Last October he won three points from four in The 2010 Ryder Cup, continuing his 100% record in the contest, having won in 2004 and 2006. In total, he has played 11 Ryder Cup matches, won eight, halved one and lost two.

It was another fine month of performances on The European Tour for the judges to consider, and the panel commended Thomas Björn, winner of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy, Alvaro Quiros, who won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and SSP Chowrasia, who triumphed on home soil to clinch the Avantha Masters, in addition to Hennie Otto (Dimension Data Pro-Am) and George Coetzee (Telkom PGA Championship) who both won on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. Kaymer, the European Tour Golfer of the Month for January, was also highly praised for becoming World Number One for the first time in his career on reaching the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

All the monthly winners will be considered for The Race to Dubai European Tour Golfer of the Year, which was won jointly by Kaymer and McDowell in 2010.

Luke Donald Wins WGC-Accenture

Luke Donald WGC-Accenture Match Play winner 2011

Luke Donald spoiled Martin Kaymer's rise to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking by winning the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday with a performance so dominant he never played the 18th hole all week.

On a bizarre final day in the high desert, which began with snow covering the fairways, Donald pulled ahead for good with a birdie on the par-5 11th and a par on the next hole, eventually closing out Kaymer on No. 16 for a 3-and-2 victory.

The consolation prize for Kaymer is going to No. 1 in the career, which he assured by reaching the championship match.

Donald was in more dire need of this trophy, however.

It was his first win in America in five years, and it was only his second win worldwide since he captured the 2006 Honda Classic. The 33-year-old Englishman had done just about everything right except win.

He took care of that in a week like no other in the 13-year history of the Accenture Match Play Championship. Donald played only 89 holes in six matches and never trailed in any of them. In fact, he led after 81 of those holes.

"It feels amazing," Donald said. "I had a bit of a monkey on my back. I hadn't won in the U.S. in five years."

Donald won his first World Golf Championships event, and became the second player from England to capture the Match Play Championship. He goes to a career-best No. 3 in the world to continue a European resurgence in the ranking.

The next world ranking will be Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Donald and Graeme McDowell. It's the first time since March 15, 1992, that the top four spots have been occupied by Europeans.

Matt Kuchar defeated Bubba Watson in the consolation match and will go to No. 10 in the world.

This World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship will stand out for reasons beyond golf.

A late winter storm dusted Dove Mountain with nearly an inch of snow, and the fairways were blankets of white in the morning. Donald looked out his hotel room and suggested on Twitter that a snowball fight determine who had honors on the first tee.

The snow had melted when they teed off, although dark clouds on the horizon loomed. Sleet began falling when the championship match reached the third green, and play was stopped when sleet covered the fourth fairway.

"Do we have to keep playing?" Kaymer asked chief referee Mark Russell.

Kaymer, who purchased a snood to wear around his neck, pulled it up over his mouth and looked like a real Western gunslinger (except for the pattern of flies on fish hooks). Donald took out his blue-and-white umbrella and crouched beneath it.

After about 10 minutes, when the fairways turned from white back to green, play resumed.

Donald seized on the moment. Already 1 up from his 18-foot birdie on the par-5 second, he watched Kaymer hit a fade over the bunker to about 7 feet, then answered with a shot into 2 feet for a conceded birdie. Kaymer missed, and Donald was 2 up.

On the next hole, Kaymer pulled his drive into the desert and fell another hole down.

Donald three-putted for bogey from below the ridge to lose his first hole, and Kaymer squared the match at the turn with a birdie on the eighth and a bogey on No. 9, where Donald hit his approach into a desert bush and had to return to his original spot in the fairway.

The turning point might have been No. 10.

Kaymer had all the momentum and blistered a tee shot down the middle, while Donald went from a scrubby lie in the desert to a waste area short of the green. Donald, however, blasted out to 3 feet for a conceded par.

He took the lead on the 11th by making an 8-foot birdie putt as Kaymer missed his birdie from just inside 6 feet, and Donald regained all the moment on the next hole when Kaymer came up short into the sand and took bogey.

Donald went 3 up on the 15th when Kaymer missed a birdie putt from inside 4 feet, and the "Germanator" conceded the match on the 16th when he failed to hole a 30-foot birdie putt.

It was the first time the championship match was decided over 18 holes instead of 36.

Donald Defeats Moore at WGC Accenture

Luke Donald

Luke Donald has reached his first Accenture Match Play semifinal after a dominating performance in which he rolled in four putts of 11 feet or longer in beating Ryan Moore 5 and 4 in Saturday morning’s quarterfinal.

Donald also threw in a hole out from 67 feet to win the sixth hole. He even added another hole-out with a chip on the 11th hole for birdie, although he lost the hole to a Moore eagle.

“I got off to a great start, got off early, and I think that chip in on 6 was a big turning point,” Donald said. “It looked like a tough up and down.”

In all, Donald posted seven birdies against just one bogey. Moore, meanwhile, had a rollercoaster morning, with one eagle, two birdies and four bogeys. Moore carded just five bogeys combined in his first three matches.

The Englishman will now play Matt Kuchar in Saturday afternoon’s semifinals. Kuchar, who finished second in the FedExCup last year, beat Y.E. Yang 2 and 1.

“Matt obviously had a great year last year and has continued this year,” Donald said. “He’s played strongly, I’m excited to be there, and hopefully I can continue the good work.”

Donald had never made it past the third round in six previous appearances here, but he’s been arguably the most consistent performer through the first four rounds here. He has yet to trail in any of his four matches and has led for all but four of the holes he’s played this week.

“He played great,” Moore said. “I knew I had to play well against him. I just made him a little too comfortable.”

Donald opened the match much like the previous two days, with a birdie at the first when he found the cup with an 11-foot, 11-inch putt.

Moore gave away the par-3 third when he found the water, but gained the hole back with a birdie at the fourth. Two holes later, Donald holed out with a chip-in from the fairway to go 2 up. Two holes later when he rolled in a birdie putt from 11 feet, 10 inches at the par-5 8th, he went 3 up and never looked back.

Moore didn’t help his cause by also giving away the ninth hole when he missed a four-foot putt for par. Another birdie putt from Donald at the 10th, this time from 11 feet, 9 inches, put him 5 up.

Moore won the 11th with an eagle, even though Donald produced his second chip-in of the match from the rough after he chunked it out of the bunker.

And just for good measure, Donald denied Moore a win at the 12th hole by saving par with a putt from 11 feet.

“I didn’t put too much pressure on him early on and kind of gave a couple of holes to him,” Moore said. “You can’t give holes away. I did that a couple of times early and let him pad his lead and from there, I think he just cruised.”

On the 14th hole, Donald then closed out the match with a birdie putt from just inside nine feet.

“The short game has been good, and it has been tidy,” Donald said. “I haven’t given up too many holes this week. I made a bunch of birdies, too.” 

Mike McAllister