The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship was won by American Sam Burns after Rory McIlroy lost in a thrilling semifinal match earlier on Sunday.
McIlroy was two up with three to play and one up starting the 18th hole in Texas before being defeated by American Cameron Young in a sudden-death extra hole.
Young won the match with a birdie on the first extra hole after tying the score with a pressure putt on the 18th hole.
Yet in the championship match, fellow countryman Burns easily defeated the 15th seed 6&5.
Wallace of England claims his first PGA Tour victory.
the 13th seed Burns, 26, defeated Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top player, in a similarly close semifinal match that required three extra holes.
Although trailing Young by one after the second hole, he went on a run of eight birdies in a row over the next 10 holes to take control of the match.
Before the two exchanged handshakes on the 13th green, Young unsuccessfully attempted to close the gap on holes 12 and 13.
Burns, who achieved his sixth victory on the PGA Tour, exclaimed, “What a week.” “I’m so worn out.
“Even if he didn’t play his best, the match was fantastic. After my match with Scottie, I had the impression that I had discovered something.”
By defeating Scheffler 2&1 in the third-place playoff, McIlroy bounced back.
Although losing in the semifinals, he had a solid week 10 days before The Masters in Augusta got underway on April 6.
McIlroy, who is using a new putter and driver shaft, said there were “a ton of positives to take away” from the round. “We were equally disappointed to lose our matches this morning, including Scottie and I.
“I would have accepted it if you had told me I would make it to the Sunday of the match play last week,” the player said.
Scheffler and McIlroy suffered shocking losses.
The McIlroy-Scheffler final, which many fans had been looking forward to all week and for the majority of their semi-finals, was denied to the tournament by the two unexpected semi-final results.
Young defeated McIlroy by making a birdie on the 16th hole before sinking a seven-foot putt to tie the game.
The two recreated the 12th hole, and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy’s errant tee ball found a flat lie while Young’s ended up against the edge of the bunker. McIlroy then missed a putt from 10 feet after Young, who has never won on the PGA Tour, had made his.
After his longtime friend Burns opened the round with three birdies, Scheffler found himself three behind. Nevertheless, he quickly rallied, making four of his own in five holes to go two ahead by the tenth hole.
Yet in a superb match, the 13th seeded Burns tied the score once more on the 16th and took the lead with a flawless tee shot on the par-3 17th, only for the defending champion Scheffler to tie the score with a birdie on the 18th.
Scheffler had won his previous 10 matches in the competition, but Burns’ 15-foot putt on the 21st hole—after they both made par on the previous hole and birdied the 19th—proved to be the difference.
That guaranteed him a spot in the championship game, when he won one of his career’s biggest victories.
