Matt Kuchar In The Bag: WGC Matchplay Winning Clubs

Matt Kuchar won the WGC-Accenture Matchplay in Tuscon as he saw off defending champion Hunter Mahan 2&1 in a closely contended final.

Ian Poulter lost to Jason Day by one hole in the third-place playoff, but the Englishman’s fourth place finish does at least move him back inside the world’s top-10.

Sunday’s play was full of action as Mahan maintained his record of never having been behind in a match since the opening round in 2010 as he beat Poulter 4&3 in the first semi-final.

But that run was soon in danger against an in-form Kuchar who went 1up in the final when Mahan bogeyed the par-4 4th, before he dropped shots on the next three holes to gift Kuchar a commanding 4up lead at the turn.

Mahan didn’t give up though and reduced the deficit to just one, before he found the desert on 17 after Kuchar had put his approach to within five-feet for birdie.

It left Kuchar to take the title and move-up to world number eight.

In the consolation match, Poulter looked short of his best against Australian Day and later admitted via Twitter that “I would love to have won this afternoon but 3-4 just isn’t the same as playing for a title. When you’re playing over 100 holes in 5 days.”

The new world number 10 stuggled in cold conditions against an in-form Mahan in the match for a place in the final. He said: “It was tricky. It was a lot windier today. Hunter never gave me too many opportunities. A couple of chip shots weren’t quite right, and a couple of bunker shots weren’t quite right. I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t press him more.”

Mahan went 2up on Poulter with a good up-and-down on the 8th, before the gap increased when the American chipped-in from 50-feet for a birdie to go 3up with six to play.

The Cobra staffer gave himself hope with a spectacular bunker shot for a birdie on the par-5 13th, but when he failed to hole out from five-feet on the 14th and then couldn’t win the 15th, it was game over.

Here are the clubs that winner Kuchar used: 

Driver: Bridgestone J40 430, 9.5°, with Accra M4+ 55 shaft
Fairway wood: Ping Anser, 14.5°, with Mitsubishi Diamana Blueboard 73X shaft
Hybrid: Ping Anser, 20°, with Fujikura Motore Speeder HB 90X shaft
Irons: Fourteen Golf (4-iron) with Aerotech SteelFiber i95 Constant Weight S-flex shaft and Bridgestone J40 Cavity Back (5-PW) with Aerotech SteelFiber i95 Constant Weight S-flex shafts
Wedges: Bridgestone J40 (52°, 56° bent to 57°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 steel shafts and Vokey Design SM4 (62°) with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shaft
Putter: Bettinardi Signature Model 1, 44.75″
Ball: Bridgestone Tour B330-S