Kaymer ascends new heights

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February 27, 2011

Martin Kaymer, set to become the new world No. 1, will face Luke Donald in Sunday’s final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

Martin Kaymer will face Luke Donald in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play on Sunday and, win or lose, Kaymer will become the world number one.

Kaymer beat Bubba Watson one up in a closely fought semi-final, while Donald enjoyed a dominant 5&4 victory over Ryan Moore.

Win or lose, Kaymer will take over the world number one spot from Lee Westwood, while a victory for Donald could see him go as high as No. 3 in the world.

While much of the talk is around the rankings, Kaymer himself remains focused on the task at hand.

“It has taken me only five years to get to number one,” he said. “For myself, my family and the people I work with it’s a great achievement.

“I was not thinking about the number one spot (against Watson) as I was sure I would get the opportunity again over the next few weeks, I just wanted to win the match.”

“He made a great birdie at 17, you can’t do anything about that, but it worked out fine.

“Luke is probably one of the best match play players in the world, we get along well but because it’s a final it will add more pressure.”

Watson had scored an impressive come-from-behind victory over JB Holmes in the quarter-finals, fighting back from five down to take the win in a play-off. He and Kaymer were closely matched for much of their semi-final match, and were all square after 14 holes, but bad drives on the 15th and 16th allowed Kaymer to go two up with two to play.

A brilliant birdie on the 17th brought Watson back to only one down, but Kaymer held his nerve to secure the half on the 18th.

The other semi-final was a far more one-sided affair with Donald playing some quality golf to take a 5&4 victory over Ryan Moore, following up on the 6&5 victory over Matt Kuchar in the quarters.

Donald birdied all but two of his first nine holes against Moore to be six up at the turn. He went seven up after 10 holes, before dropping two straight holes to allow the match to go to the 13th. Another birdie there, however, sealed the match.

“It was good,” Donald, who only needed 27 holes on the day to dispatch his two opponents, told Sky Sports.

“I didn’t leave anything out there and I was pretty dominant. I was able to keep my opponents at bay.

“On a long day like this it was nice to get done early in both matches.

“I didn’t know I could go to number three in the world, but that would be amazing. I’ve been playing consistently, but it’s been a while since I’ve won over here (in America).”

Kuchar added: “There’s no escaping Luke Donald. I played decent golf but he just tore me up.”

The final will tee off Sunday at 12:20pm local time.

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