Accenture Match Play Championship

Accenture Match Play Championship
Name	Accenture Match Play Championship
Established	1999
Course	Various
Tour	PGA Tour
Format	Match play
Purse	$9,500,000 (final edition)
Month played	February
Final year	2014

Accenture Match Play Championship. It was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, notable as one of the four events comprising the World Golf Championships series. Staged annually from 1999 to 2014, the event featured a 64-player bracket competing in a single-elimination match play format. Its field was drawn from the top players in the Official World Golf Ranking, leading to high-profile matches and unpredictable outcomes.

History

The event was conceived as part of the inaugural World Golf Championships schedule in 1999, created to bring together elite fields from across the global golf landscape. The first edition was held at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California, with Jeff Maggert claiming victory. Over its history, the tournament moved to several prestigious venues, including The Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona, and later to the Dove Mountain course, also in Arizona. Its creation was a significant development for the PGA Tour and the International Federation of PGA Tours, aiming to enhance competition between tours like the European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Format

The tournament employed a straightforward single-elimination bracket, similar to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The 64 qualifiers, based on the Official World Golf Ranking, were seeded and divided into four geographic regions named after legendary golfers: Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Sam Snead. Each match was contested over 18 holes, with finals and consolation matches also set at 18 holes. This format produced dramatic upsets and tense finishes, differing markedly from the standard stroke play events on the PGA Tour schedule.

Winners

Victory required winning six consecutive matches, and champions included many of the era's premier players. Tiger Woods won the event three times (2003, 2004, 2008), with his 2008 victory coming at the Dove Mountain course. Other multiple winners were Geoff Ogilvy (2006, 2009) and Hunter Mahan (2012). International winners were common, with triumphs from Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, Henrik Stenson of Sweden, and Ian Poulter of England. The final champion in 2014 was Jason Day of Australia, who defeated Victor Dubuisson of France in a memorable final at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain.

Records and statistics

Tiger Woods holds the record for most victories with three, while Geoff Ogilvy holds the record for most matches won, with 22. The largest margin of victory in a final was 8&7, achieved by David Toms over Chris DiMarco in 2005. The event saw several notable upsets, including the early exits of top seeds like Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els. Steve Stricker set a record for the longest match, a 26-hole quarterfinal in 2001. The tournament's structure meant that even winners of major championships like The Open Championship or The Masters Tournament could be eliminated in the first round.

Sponsorship and naming

The event was originally titled the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship, reflecting its founding sponsor. Following the split and renaming of that firm, the title was changed in 2001 to the Accenture Match Play Championship, named for the global management consulting and technology services company Accenture. This sponsorship was a major financial pillar for the World Golf Championships, with the purse growing to $9.5 million by its final years. The partnership with Accenture was one of the longest-running in the PGA Tour's sponsorship portfolio during that era.

Discontinuation

In 2014, Accenture announced it would not renew its sponsorship after the February event, seeking to align its marketing strategy away from golf. The PGA Tour and the International Federation of PGA Tours were unable to secure a replacement title sponsor in time for the 2015 schedule. Consequently, the tournament was removed from the World Golf Championships roster. Its match play slot was eventually filled by a new event, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which began in 2016 under a different sponsorship agreement and with a revised format.

Category:Golf tournaments in the United States Category:World Golf Championships Category:PGA Tour events Category:Discontinued golf tournaments Category:1999 establishments in the United States Category:2014 disestablishments in the United States