Henrik Stenson rallies to claim US$8 million event

Geoff Ogilvy hits his second shot on the 29th hole in his match against Henrik Stenson during the final round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships in Marana, Arizona, on Sunday. PHOTO: AFP N

Henrik Stenson won the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday with a 2-and-1 victory over Geoff Ogilvy in the 36-hole final.

Stenson holed his tee shot at the 34th hole for a conceded birdie, then closed out the match at the next hole to deny Ogilvy's bid to join Tiger Woods as a back-to-back winner of the elite US$8 million event.

The Swede became just the second European to win the title, after 2000 champion Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland.

He had to rally from 2-down after 26 holes in a match that saw a host of lead changes.

"Geoff and I played good in the morning [18 holes] but in the afternoon I was struggling big time," Stenson said.

"I couldn't say I was floating around thinking how great I was playing. It's such a long day and we played so much earlier in the week that everybody's exhausted," he said.

Stenson 2-up through 18 but was erratic after the interval making four quick bogeys.

A miscue from the Australian at the 27th hole, however, proved key. Ogilvy missed a five-footer and Stenson went on to win the 29th hole with a par and the 30th with a birdie to regain the lead.

After he won the par-three 16th, Stenson needed only to halve one of the final two holes to win.