Monday 28 March 2016 17:29, UK
Jason Day produced another superb all-round performance to regain the WGC-Dell Match Play title with a 5&4 thrashing of Louis Oosthuizen in a one-sided final in Texas.
Day, who will replace Jordan Spieth as world No 1 when the rankings are updated on Monday, cruised into a three-hole lead by the turn and wrapped up a comprehensive victory with a stylish approach to three feet at the 14th which Oosthuizen could not match.
The Australian came through a thrilling battle with Rory McIlroy in the morning semi-finals, clinching a one-up win with a clutch par at the last as he used only 23 putts through 18 holes.
Day carried that form into the afternoon final, displaying a deft touch around the greens to get up and down on the odd occasion that his tee-to-green game was off.
His only real mistake came at the first, where he pulled his drive into rough and missed the green with his second before missing from 12 feet to match Oosthuizen's opening par.
But he got back to all-square at the third when Oosthuizen thinned his second from a fairway bunker, and his ball cannoned off the bank in front of the trap and disappeared into a hazard.
Day then converted a tee-shot to 12 feet at the next and, after both players had missed the target at the short seventh, Day pitched to four feet and holed for par to double his lead.
The 2014 champion went three ahead by the turn when he clipped another precise wedge to six feet at the ninth and backed it up with a solid putt, and Oosthuizen did well to avoid falling further behind at the 12th when he scrambled a par despite tugging his second into water.
But Day's superior form around the greens took him four ahead with a neat up-and-down at the next, where the South African fluffed his chip from behind the green, and it was all over on the 14th green when Oosthuizen's 35-foot birdie attempt slid wide.
"I'm very, very thrilled," Day said at the presentation ceremony. "It's been a memorable week this week, not only winning the Dell Match Play championship but also to get back to No 1 in the world.
"I have really enjoyed this golf course. I have been able to utilise the great short game that I had from last week but also to play the way I did from tee to green and hit the clutch shots."
Day was almost forced to pull out of the tournament after he strained his back towards the end of his first-day win over Graeme McDowell, and he added: "It was 50/50 when I woke up on Thursday and was hitting balls on the range.
"My team wanted me to get an MRI on my back but I thought if I have to pull out I can get an MRI back home. I'm very pleased with how it recovered so quickly."
