Bubba Watson wins WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

Bubba Watson beat Kevin Kisner by 7 and 6 in the final of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club in Texas.

Bubba Watson wins WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

Bubba Watson had beaten Justin Thomas in the semi-finals of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and Kevin Kisner had come through an exciting match against Sweden’s Alex Noren. Kisner had seen off Ian Poulter by 8 and 6 in the quarter-final so it looked as though the final might be a tight affair.

Bubba Watson beat Kisner 7 and 6

It didn’t turn out like that though. Bubba won the first five holes to establish an unassailable lead. By the turn he had increased his advantage to six and, although Kisner got one back on the 11th, the match was completed when Bubba birdied the 12th.

The victory means that Watson is only the fifth player to have won multiple Majors and multiple WGC titles. A two-time Masters champion, Bubba also won the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament in 2014. The others to have landed multiple Majors and WGCs are: Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy.

Related: See Bubba Watson’s WGC-Match Play winning clubs

“It’s crazy to think about it,” he said. “I’ve got two World Golf Championships, counting this one, and two Majors. It’s unbelievable to think about that. Giving my mom a hug, six years old, having one golf club for a year, no lessons. I can sit here and make up stories all day but it’s absolutely remarkable that I’m able to lift a trophy like this.”

In the third/fourth place playoff, Sweden’s Alex Noren saw off Justin Thomas by five and three. Noren won the first but Thomas bounced back at the third. The Swede moved ahead again at the fourth though and would never relinquish his lead from that point onwards.

Alex Noren finished third

If Thomas had won this event he would have moved to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, overtaking Dustin Johnson who lost in the group stages of this competition. But the USPGA champion lost to Bubba in the semi-finals and the wind went out of his sails.

Related: Bubba Watson Q&A: “I’ve never had a lesson”

WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
Austin Country Club, Austin Texas
21-25 March
Purse: $10,000,000 Par: 71

1 Bubba Watson (USA) $1,700,000
2 Kevin Kisner (USA) $1,072,000
3 Alex Noren (Swe) $695,000
4 Justin Thomas (USA) $559,000
T5 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) $306,000
T5 Kyle Stanley (USA) $306,000
T5 Cameron Smith (Aus) $306,000
T5 Ian Poulter (Eng) $306,000

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

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