This time last year, Kevin Kisner didn’t quite get the result he wanted. He had just finished runner-up at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship, but the fact that he didn’t get past the 12th hole in the final against two-time major titleholder Bubba Watson gnawed at him. Never mind that he hitherto managed to lead his particular group, which included World Number One Dustin Johnson, and thereafter claim victories against Matt Kuchar, Ian Poulter, and Alex Noren. As far as he was concerned, there was unfinished business at the Austin Country Club.
Little wonder, then, that Kisner found his experience over the weekend to be extremely sweet. “I prevailed,” he noted shortly after he put the finishing touches on a 3&2 triumph over Kuchar in the final, “and I’m a world champion.” Indeed. That he almost failed to get out of group play served only to underscore the gravity of his accomplishment; he had to survive three holes in sudden death against Poulter — the very same opponent he dusted 8&6 in the quarterfinals last year and his opening-match tormentor this time around — just to advance to the Round of 16.
For the remainder of the Match Play Championship, however, Kisner was money. He made short work of Li Haotong, 6&5, and Louis Oosthuizen, 2&1, before taking the measure of Francesco Molinari in the semis by the slimmest of margins. The reigning British Open winner looked invincible en route, and, after posting birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to tie the set-to, appeared to have the momentum until a three-putt bogey from the wrong side of the green sealed the outcome. And in the winner-take-all affair, he was on top practically all the way.
In the aftermath, Kuchar lamented the lost opportunities. “I gave too many holes away.” True, although the pressure Kisner put with steady play had much to do with the turn of events. The latter was simply too good when it mattered, as, among other instances, evidenced by the 20-foot putt for birdie that ended the match on the 16th. Which is exactly what the Match Play Championship requires: the best under pressure.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
