Kuchar not thinking of Augusta

Last updated: 26th February 2013

After their performances in the Accenture Match Play Championship, Matt Kuchar and Ian Poulter are both back in the world's top 10.

While the 2010 winner Poulter had to settle for fourth place after losing to Hunter Mahan in the semi-finals and then Australian Jason Day in the third place play-off, Kuchar had reason to celebrate after winning the a first prize of almost £965,000 at the year's first World Golf Championship (WGC) event.

The 34-year-old Kuchar also won the coveted Players Championship in June last year and will undoubtedly be among the favourites for the Masters in April this year.

However the tall American admitted that he hasn't even thought that far ahead yet.

"My sights are not yet set on Augusta. Every week is a great opportunity and the next tournament is the most important to me," Kuchar said after his victory in Tucson.

For both Poulter and Kuchar the next event will be the Cadillac Championship next week in Miami, the second of the WGC events of the year, where Justin Rose is the defending champion.

Poulter went down 4 and 3 to Mahan, who sunk a 20-yard chip on the 12th to take command of the tie.

"Hunter played very solid and chipped unbelievably well.

"It's a shame really and disappointing," said Poulter.

While the 37-year-old Englishman still had hopes of recovering the match ahead of the hole after he was the one on the green after his tee-shot, Mahan's hold meant he was three holes behind instead of a possible one.

"It was a huge turnaround and from that point there was no let-up," Poulter added.

In the final, Kuchar raced to a four-hole lead before his lead was reduced to just one stroke. After both players drove into the bunker on the 17th, he recovered much better than Mahan and claimed to hole and the match.