Mahan double on the cards

Last updated: 24th February 2013

Hunter Mahan will face Matt Kuchar in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship after beating Ian Poulter in the semi-finals.

Mahan, the defending champion, secured a 4&3 victory over Poulter as he continued a run of 166 holes without trailing.

The American took the lead thanks to a birdie at the second and never looked back, with his constancy and a strong chipping display giving him the edge.

Mahan had drawn two clear by the eighth but gave Poulter a sight at a way back in as he bungled the 11th, but his English opponent missed an eight-foot par-putt to see the hole halved.

It was at the next hole that Mahan dealt the killer blow, chipping in from behind the green to take a hole Poulter had looked favourite to grab after finding the green from the tee.

The two players matched each other's birdies at the 14th and with Poulter needing to win the remaining holes to survive the tie, both once again birdied the 15th, enough to see Mahan progress into the Championship match.

"It's easy to get up for Ian because he's so good at match play," said Mahan.

"I played really well. I was getting up and down from a lot of tough spots."

The 30-year-old will face Kuchar for the title after Kuchar disposed of Jason Day 4&3.

Despite going ahead at second after a Kuchar bogey, Day looked out of sorts throughout and couldn't come to grips with the windy conditions, failing to produce a birdie.

Kuchar won the sixth, eighth and ninth holes to take a handsome lead heading into the back nine and it was one he would not relinquish, closing the match out with a birdie at the 15th.