The Joy of Golf: Dubuisson the master of escape but it just wasn’t his Day

Joy Chakravarty 12:18 27/02/2014
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  • It’s a rare phenomenon that a runner-up gets more media coverage and kudos than the champion, but that’s exactly what happened after the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

    Jason Day walked away with trophy and the winner’s cheque of $1.53 million but the vanquished Victor Dubuisson proved to be the real victor with golf fans the world over. 

    The young Frenchman won plaudits after pulling off some of the most unbelievable recovery shots from some of the most hopeless of places on the course.

    From being three-down at one stage, Dubuisson managed to take it to the fifth extra hole before finally losing the battle.

    In covering golf for more than two decades, I don’t think I have seen so many professional golfers gushing about one of their own colleagues.

    Just sample some of these Twitter reactions:
    Rory McIlroy: Congrats to @JDay- Golf on the win! And well played @Vdubush! Haven’t seen short game magic like that since the great Seve! Awesome viewing!
    Gary Player: Not sure I can recall anything like this in 60 years as a pro. Great for Match Play. Graeme McDowell: Those may be the two best escape shots I’ve ever seen. Allez Victor. #rydercup2014
    Luke Donald: Hit it in the desert Dubuisson, it’s way too hard an up and down from the grass!!
    Gozalo Fernandez-Castano: When I grow up I want to be like you @Vdubush!! You made @European_Tour proud!! Looking forward to seeing you in action at the Ryder Cup!
    And this last one from Javier Ballesteros, son of Seve, the original Houdini of golf, and the man with whom Dubuisson’s magical game was most compared to: “It doesn’t matter who wins, Victor Dubuisson is my new hero!! #magic”

    The rewards have been swift for the man with movie star looks.

    European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley said Dubuisson was “99.9 per cent sure” to be a part of his team at Gleneagles later this year, and the finish has earned him a special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, which means he can play any number of tournaments on sponsors’ exemption.

    Getting entry into events won’t be an issue as his manager has reportedly been flooded with requests.

    Dubuisson defeated world No1 Tiger Woods – his idol and the only reason he took up golf – at the Turkish Open last year, so he really is not an unknown quantity but, in losing to Day, it surely looks like a new star is born.

    Luck of the draw

    It’s common knowledge now that most draws for the opening two rounds in professional golf are not based on luck, but on human intervention.

    Or should I call it, the convenience of the broadcasters? 

    While I am all for marquee pairings in tournaments – it’s fantastic for the walking spectators and it does bring in more fans to the venue – there is no denying that sometime luck of the draw can throw up some fantastic pairings.

    The quarter-final line-up at the WGC-Accenture Match Play was one such occasion.

    The four matches had Dubuisson taking on Graeme McDowell, Day against Louis Oosthuizen, Rickie Fowler versus Jim Furyk and Jordan Spieth squaring up against Ernie Els.

    What it did was pit four of the finest young talents in the game against four Major champions.

    As it turned out youth prevailed in all the matches but the last, where Els disposed the 20-year-old Spieth, who just lost his touch after the first few holes.

    Quotes of the Week
    “I was thinking, ‘why won’t this guy just go away?’. I was doing everything to win the tournament and he just wouldn’t go away.” – Jason Day reveals his thoughts after watching Dubuisson make one magical recovery after another in the Match Play final.

    “Oh, man. You know what… I think we did make it a lot easier. I didn’t make it easier on my heart. I felt like I had a heart attack out there a couple of times.” – Day, when asked if the exciting final would make it easier for the PGA Tour to find a new sponsor for the tournament.

    Stat of the Week
    7,964 – yards, the length of this week’s Tshwane Open’s host venue, the Ernie Els-designed Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate. It is the longest course in European Tour history. That includes the 685- yard par-5 fourth hole – again, the longest par-5 in the history of the European Tour. In fact, all four par- 5s are over 600 yards in length.

    WHAT’S IN THE BAG 

    Jason Day 
    Winner, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship 
    Driver: TaylorMade SLDR (10.5 degrees) 
    4-wood: TaylorMade RocketBallz (17.5 degrees) 
    Irons (2-PW): TaylorMade MC Forged 
    Wedges: TaylorMade ATV (52, 60 degrees) 
    Putter: TaylorMade Ghost Tour Monte Carlo prototype 
    Ball: TaylorMade Tour Preferred X 

    THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
    PGA TOUR
    The Honda Classic
    Course: PGA National, Palm Beach Garden, Florida
    Purse: $6 million (Dh22m)
    Defending champ: Michael Thompson

    EUROPEAN TOUR
    Tshwane Open
    Course:
    Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate Centurion, South Africa
    Purse: €1.5 million (Dh7.5m)
    Defending champ: Dawie Van der Walt

    You can email me any regional golf news and event reports at [email protected]

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