In a rematch of the playoff between them for last summer’s PGA Championship, Martin Kaymer once again defeated Bubba Watson.
Kaymer went through Watson for his first major championship at Whistling Straits. This time, at Dove Mountain, the German went through Watson for the top ranking in the world. Kaymer did so in the semifinal of the WGC Accenture Match Play, winning 1 Up.
The match was tight all day, with neither player carrying a lead greater than one hole until the 16th hole.
Kaymer drew first blood with a birdie at the par-4 first hole. A hole later, Watson answered with a win at the second. Both players lost the hole more than it was won by the other player.
It wasn’t until the 8th until another hole was won, when Watson won the par-5 8th hole. Kaymer responded in kind to draw even at the ninth with a birdie of his own. The German won the 10th in par.
At the par-5 11th, both players got home in two, but Watson’s superior length – even over Kaymer – allowed him to hit a high approach shot to hold the green for an easy birdie. Kaymer could not get up-and-down and the match was again square.
Kaymer responded with a fantastic tee shot to the par-3 12th after Watson ended up short after a gust of wind held up the American’s approach. Kaymer could not convert for birdie.
The Germanator took the 13th hole in birdie, but Kaymer committed a folly at the par-4 14th, handing the hole to Watson to again square the match.
Watson got himself into trouble with a wayward drive to the left at the drivable par-4 15th hole. He had to take an unplayable lie and the 1-stroke penalty to accompany relief. It cost him a hole after squaring the match at 14 with par when Kaymer hit a fat second shot into the green.
At the par-3 16th, both players hit errant tee shots to the short side of the pin on the right. Watson stubbed his bump-and-run chip, while Kaymer was proficient enough to make par to Watson’s bogey. Assured not to lose in regulation, Kaymer went to the par-4 17th 2 Up.
On the par-4 17th, Kaymer positioned his ball perfectly in the fairway while Watson, again, was off of the short grass. Kaymer his a poor approach shot, though, reminiscent of how he handled the nervous close with Miguel Angel Jimenez in the quarterfinals. Watson smelled blood and responded with an approach shot to eight feet from the light rough.
Kaymer got up-and-down for par, forcing Watson to make his birdie to extend the match. He did to send it to the last hole.
At the last, Watson hit a bizarre cut drive on the bottom of the club, leaving himself in the right-hand fairway bunker. Seeing his advantage, Kaymer easily split the fairway with a 3-wood.
Watson valiantly went for the green with a short iron from 175 yards, but landed on the false front of the green and spun down some 15 yards. Kaymer, amped up perhaps, went long. The German got up-and-down, though, to end the threat from Watson and win the match.
With the win, Kaymer becomes the 14th man to assume the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. He also provides a German bookend to Bernhard Langer, the man who held the top perch when the rankings were introduced 25 years ago in April.
Despite the assurance that he will become the top ranked player in the world, Kaymer still has work left to do. Not quite the Miracle on Ice, but Kaymer must focus again to take on Luke Donald in the final on Sunday. The Englishman has required just 73 holes to get to the final match – a record, according to Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press.
Donald is playing for motivation of his own as it relates to the Official World Golf Ranking. With a win against Kaymer tomorrow, he would reach a career-high 3rd on the ladder.
الرئيسية 
موضوع: Kaymer reaches No. 1 in the world by again beating Bubba Watson 
السبت فبراير 26, 2011 10:43 pm
