ogilvy wins WGC Matchplay

Geoff Ogilvy jumped to fourth in the world rankings when he produced a dominating performance to win the $8.5 million Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday.

The 31-year-old Australian never gave Paul Casey a chance in the 36-hole final, leading from start to finish to post a 4 and 3 victory on a sizzling hot day at Dove Mountain in Arizona.

It is Ogilvy’s second victory in this World Golf Championships. His seven professional victories include three WGC events, second only to Tiger Woods, and, of course, the 2006 US Open.

“The whole weekend I played fantastic,” said Ogilvy.

“I love playing in the desert. Tucson’s been great to me. I had my first (professional) victory at the Tucson Open.

Added Casey: “I didn’t have enough, simple as that. He (Ogilvy) just played excellent golf all day. He didn’t flinch.

“This afternoon, I made three birdies in eight holes and still lost two holes (overall).

“It was a very impressive win.”

Ogilvy took the lead at the very first hole on a crisp morning, and built his advantage to 4-up after just nine holes.

Casey, who missed a couple of short putts early, did not win a hole until the par-four 10th, where he holed out with a six-iron from 185 metres for an unlikely eagle.

But that was a rare bright spot for Casey, as Ogilvy got out of jail to win the 11th hole with a chip-in par from 18 metres, after earlier spraying his second shot into a cactus, from where he wisely decided to leave his ball alone and take a penalty stroke, rather than risk being cut to shreds.

Ogilvy went into lunch 3-up and the afternoon round was little more than a victory lap, as he drew first blood by winning the 19th hole with a birdie.

Casey fought back to birdie the 20th, but no matter how many good shots he played, Ogilvy answered them time and again, winning three holes in a row to go 6-up through 27 holes