Accenture Match Play: Luke Donald Dispatches New World No. 1 Martin Kaymer In Final

Luke Donald righted the ship early on the back nine and went into the 16th hole three-up over Martin Kaymer. Considering that there are only three holes left at that point, that was bad thing for the world’s new No. 1-ranked golfer: Donald got his birdie putt close enough for Kaymer to concede it, giving Donald a 3 and 2 victory in the Accenture Match Play.

Donald recovered from losing three of four holes entering the turn to win three of the first five on the back nine. He birdied the 11th, parred the 12th to win after a Kaymer bogey, and rolled in a birdie on the 15th to make the 16th a must-win situation for Kaymer.

Early on in the final match of the 2011 Accenture Match Play Championship, it looked like Luke Donald would dust new world No. 1 Martin Kaymer as he has the rest of his competition this week. But Kaymer rebounded on the second half of the front nine to make it a virtual nine-hole match.

Donald built a three-up lead with birdies on the second and fourth holes and a par on the fifth, then saw it evaporate with a bogey on the sixth, a par on the eighth that Kaymer birdied, and a double bogey on the par 5 ninth. Donald has yet to trail this week, but if his last four holes are indication, he might be trailing soon.

The final two matches of the Accenture Match Play Championship are set to tee off on Sunday as Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald battle it out for the tournament title. The action begins early on Sunday afternoon with the consolation match, with Bubba Watson and Ryan Moore hitting the course with third-place on the line.

Kaymer and Donald each survived 36 holes of play on Saturday as weather worries forced tournament organizers to rearrange the schedule in an effort to get play in without a delay. Kaymer beat Miguel Angel Jimenez in the quarterfinals before outlasting Bubba Watson in the semifinals. no matter what happens on Sunday, Kaymer will take over the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Rankings.

On Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Luke Donald has advanced to the final of the Accenture Match Play Championship, and will face either Bubba Watson or Martin Kaymer in the final. The schedule of the tournament, which follows a bracket rather than a conventional leaderboard, has been accelerated due to the threat of snow, so two rounds -- the quarterfinals and semifinals -- are being decided on Saturday.

Donald, a 3-seed, first defeated 12-seed Ryan Moore in 14 holes to reach the semifinals, where the Englishman bested Matt Kuchar in 13 holes. Kuchar will face the loser of the Watson-Kaymer match in the third-place match on Sunday.

The Accenture Match Play Championship is down to the final eight as it moves into the quarterfinals, set to take place early on Saturday morning. The tee times were moved up ahead of Saturday’s quarterfinal in an effort to get two rounds of play in on Saturday before Sunday’s final round. With bad weather, and possibly snow, looming, tournament officials are scrambling to avoid a weather delay and finish on schedule.

With as many upsets as there have been thus far -- Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson are gone -- the Accenture Match Play Championship is there for the taking for world No. 2 Martin Kaymer. Miguel Angel Jimenez and Kaymer square-off in the Gary Player bracket with the right to advance to the semifinals on the line. In other action, Ryan Moore, a 12-seed, and Y.E. Yang, an 11-seed, each made the round of eight with two-straight upsets in the first two rounds.

On Friday at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, the world’s No. 2 golfer, Martin Kaymer, advanced past Hunter Mahan to reach the fourth round of the Accenture Match Play Championship. Bubba Watson is one of the other familiar faces to advance to the next round.

Kaymer survived despite dropping the first two holes of the day to Hunter Mahan. He recovered by the sixth hole, and after once again falling behind by two, the German won four of the final five holes to render the 18th hole unnecessary and win the round.

The 2011 Accenture Match Play has been losing big names left and right — Tiger Woods lost his first round match, and Phil Mickelson fell on Thursday — but at least one of the PGA Tour’s more colorful characters around on the weekend, now that Bubba Watson is through to the round of eight.

Watson beat Geoff Ogilvy 6 and 4 to secure his place in the quarterfinals of the Accenture Match Play, continuing a hot streak that dates back to 2010. Watson won the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year and played well in 2010’s Ryder Cup and season-ending unofficial events. He’s long been regarded as one of the golf world’s more interesting young talents, and could take a major step up with a win in this event.

The third round of the Accenture Match Play 2011 Championship begins on Friday, but the bracket is missing some star power after some of golf’s finest had rough outings over the first two days. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood are all gone, victims of upsets during the first two rounds. Even Rory McIlroy, within striking distance of the top-spot in the rankings, saw his tournament end on Tuesday, never putting up a fight in an 8 and 7 loss.

Martin Kaymer was the only No. 1 seed left in the tournament after defeating Justin Rose in 20 holes on Tuesday. Of the two seeds, only one remains, as well, with Graeme McDowell the lone man left on the seed line. It’s been a tournament of upsets and wild finishes thus far, leaving a bracket few could’ve predicted.

Phil Mickelson is out of the Accenture Match Play running, losing to Rickie Fowler in round two by a score of 6 and 5. That’s sure to be the most surprising of the day’s results, especially since Tiger Woods’ early exit left Mickelson as the event’s biggest name.

The real loser in all this: Accenture, who sponsored a golf tournament that featured a total of three rounds from Woods and Mickelson.

The first round of 16 match at the Accenture Open 2011 is set with Graeme McDowell and Y.E. Yang advancing in the bracket on Thursday to face each other Friday. They are the first two winners from the second round. The remaining 14 day two matches are still in progress.

McDowell took out Ross Fisher 4 and 2 with a strong back nine. Fisher was 1 up early in the match, but McDowell came back and went 4 up on the 16th hole to win the match.

For only the second time in his career, Tiger Woods has fallen in the first round of the Accenture Match Play event. Thomas Bjorn bested him on the 19th hole, making Woods’ exit the biggest of the day’s results. Woods trailed for almost the entire match, scoring a win on the 18th hole to force a playoff.

Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, and Martin Kaymer, the three other No. 1 seeds, were all able to make it to the bracket’s second round. In the next round, Westwood will take on Nick Watney, Mickelson will face Rickie Fowler, and Kaymer will get the winner of Zach Johnson and Justin Rose, the only match yet to be decided.

The WGC Accenture Match Play Championship begins on Wednesday morning with the best the world of golf has to offer hitting the course in the always fun match play format. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and others square-off over the next five days, going head-to-head with their opponents as they work their way through the bracket. It all kicks off on Wednesday, with Sunday’s 36-hole match determining the champion.

Format: Unlike a traditional golf tournament, players are seeded into a bracket based on their their Official World Golf Rankings. The top 64 players are invited, with alternates also selected in case of a late scratch or player that chooses not to attend. The tournament is single-elimination and follows the match play format.