Ogilvy wins 2nd Match Play
MARANA, Ariz. — Geoff Ogilvy was in a sticky spot, rare for him in the Accenture Match Play Championship.
His second shot on the par-5 11th hole Sunday morning bounced into the desert and landed in a bed of jumping chollas, the ball suspended by 2-inch cactus needles. He wasn't about to take a swing. He didn't even want to touch it.
"I chose not to put my hand anywhere near it," Ogilvy said.
What became significant about that hole is the way it ended. Ogilvy took a penalty drop 40 yards behind him in the desert, failed to reach the green and was on the verge of losing the hole until he chipped in for par from 60 feet away to win the hole. It was early in the match, but it was a pivotal moment in his 4-and-3 victory over Paul Casey.
"I'm sure he was standing there thinking, 'I'll be unlucky to not win this hole,"' Ogilvy said. "It was one of those textbook, almost a comedy-of-errors match-play hole that ended my way."
Everything is going Ogilvy's way at the moment, especially in this fickle format.
He won the Accenture Match Play Championship for the second time in four years, leading from the start against Casey and closing him out with yet another birdie putt for a victory that moved him to No. 4 in the world.
"This tournament has been pretty good to me," Ogilvy said.
On Thursday, as all eyes were on Tiger Woods getting eliminated by Tim Clark for a premature end to his return from knee surgery, Ogilvy was 12 feet away from joining Woods at the exit.
He watched Shingo Katayama stand over a birdie putt with a chance to win the match, and when Katayama missed, Ogilvy had to make a 10-foot par to stay alive. Ogilvy managed to force extra holes, won on the 19th, and he never was challenged the rest of the week.
He never trailed over the final 63 holes of the tourney.
