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Hunter Mahan agreed with the assessment of his caddie, John Wood, who felt it was the best Mahan has ever played over an entire tournament. His opponents would have a hard time arguing. Mahan won the prestigious WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship with a 2&1 victory in the finals at the 7,833-yard Ritz-Carlton Golf Club outside Tucson, Ariz. Three of the four top finishers were PING pros, as Mark Wilson defeated Lee Westwood in the consolation match, 1 up.
Mahan never trailed in the finals, where he made seven of his 35 birdies for the week. Starting with the 6th, he won four out of five holes to build a 4-up lead after 10. The performance was typical of his dominating week -- he went his last 74 holes without falling behind in a match. He was consistently superb on the greens, and in interviews he repeatedly gave credit to the new mallet-style Nome. On Monday of the Match Play, an alignment session on the putting green using a laser device showed he was aiming left of the hole. With the face-balanced Nome, he aimed squarely at the hole and made putts. After a nine-hole practice round, the Nome went in his bag.
“I made a putter switch to the PING Nome and it felt great on the greens immediately,” Mahan said of his fourth career win, which elevated him to a career-best 9th in the Official World Golf Ranking. “This win gives me a lot of confidence. That’s how you separate the great players from everyone else – with wins – especially at the big events, and it doesn’t get much bigger than this, except the majors. So this is really special.”
In addition to the Nome putter, Mahan carried a G20 driver (9.5º), G20 3-wood (15º), i15 hybrid (17º), S56 irons, and Anser forged wedges (56º, 60º).
Mahan never trailed in the finals, where he made seven of his 35 birdies for the week. Starting with the 6th, he won four out of five holes to build a 4-up lead after 10. The performance was typical of his dominating week -- he went his last 74 holes without falling behind in a match. He was consistently superb on the greens, and in interviews he repeatedly gave credit to the new mallet-style Nome. On Monday of the Match Play, an alignment session on the putting green using a laser device showed he was aiming left of the hole. With the face-balanced Nome, he aimed squarely at the hole and made putts. After a nine-hole practice round, the Nome went in his bag.
“I made a putter switch to the PING Nome and it felt great on the greens immediately,” Mahan said of his fourth career win, which elevated him to a career-best 9th in the Official World Golf Ranking. “This win gives me a lot of confidence. That’s how you separate the great players from everyone else – with wins – especially at the big events, and it doesn’t get much bigger than this, except the majors. So this is really special.”
In addition to the Nome putter, Mahan carried a G20 driver (9.5º), G20 3-wood (15º), i15 hybrid (17º), S56 irons, and Anser forged wedges (56º, 60º).
