Jason Day defeats Victor Dubuisson in 23 holes to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship

Jason Day defeated Victor Dubuisson in 23 holes to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.  Day won six matches, played 113 holes, and rolled in a four-footer on the 23rd hole to win his second career PGA Tour title.

Dubuisson, 23, has a bright future ahead.  The Frenchman made his PGA Tour debut at the Farmers Insurance Open in January, and finished T56.  He is three for three in cuts made, and his previous best finish on Tour was at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-am where he tied for 13^th.

Day is projected to move to 4th in the Official World Golf Rankings while Dubuisson is projected to move to 23rd.

Finals recap:

Dubuisson bogeyed the first two holes to give Jason Day a 2-up lead.  He was able to square the match after winning three and four, but it was all Day the rest of the front nine.

Day won the 6th, 7th, and 9th holes to take a 3-up lead at the turn.

The match was seemingly over after Day hit his 250-yard third shot to six-feet on the par-5 11th, and halved the hole with a birdie.  However, Dubuisson had other plans for the back nine.

Dubuisson birdied the par-5 13^th to cut the deficit to 2-down.  On the par-4 15th, he drove the green, and two-putted for an easy birdie.  However, Day calmly rolled in his 10-footer for birdie to take his 2-up lead to the final three holes.

On 17, Dubuisson hit a terrific fairway bunker shot to 20-feet, and made the birdie putt to go 1-down with one hole to play.

On the 18th green, Day lagged his difficult putt to 9-feet while Dubuisson hit a great bunker shot to 4-feet.  Day missed his putt to win, and Dubuisson cleaned up his sandy to extend the match.

The playoff:

The first playoff hole was the beginning of two incredible up-and-downs by Dubuisson to stay alive.

On the first playoff hole, Dubuisson got up-and-down from under a cactus.  On the the second playoff hole, he got up-and-down from under a small plant, which left Day shaking his head in disbelief.

They both bogeyed the third playoff hole, and went to the par-4 14th.  Day spun his approach shot off the green, but was left with a makeable chip shot. Dubuisson hit his approach shot to 20-feet for birdie.  Just like the third playoff hole, they both failed to convert.

On the fifth playoff hole (the driveable par-4 15th), both players drove it just right of the green.  Day had the advantage finishing in the intermediate cut while Dubuisson was in the primary cut.

Dubuisson flew his flop shot too far, and was left with a 31-footer for birdie.  Because of the lie, Day was able to put spin on his chip shot, and was left with a four-footer for birdie.

After Dubuisson missed his long birdie attempt, Day rolled in his four-footer for the win.

It was a thrilling finish to a thrilling week.  Can’t wait for next year!

Consolation match:

Rickie Fowler shot six-under, but Ernie Els took him 19 holes before losing 1-down.  Fowler’s third place finish will be a confidence booster after missing his last three cuts.

Els will also take a few positives from this week, including his ability play well in a competition that he has historically underperformed.

Match play bracket.