Hunter Mahan didn't need to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship title to prove he's a success.
His Walter Hagen Cup already runneth over.
The California-born, Oklahoma State-educated Mahan has made $20.5 million during his nine-year pro golf career. He married a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader last year and, together, Hunter and Kandi Mahan are building a 19,000- square-foot home complete with an underground parking garage and a basketball court.
The 29-year-old Mahan has prestigious sponsors with deep pockets. His faux-pop band, The Golf Boys, is a YouTube sensation, and his flat-brimmed Ping caps are uncommonly cool.
Mahan didn't need to win Sunday. But it was everything.
Mahan defeated Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy 2 and 1 in Sunday's championship match at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, securing the title and a $1.4 million winner's check.
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With the victory comes the cachet, and corresponding confidence, that money can't buy.
"I didn't realize how difficult it is to win this week because it's six matches and you're playing against the best in the world. … It feels good because you're going against the game's best," he said. "I played great from tee to green: Putting, chipping, driving, irons, everything was there. I needed everything to win. It feels good. I'm very proud of how I played."
Mahan is the first American to win Match Play since Tiger Woods took home the trophy in 2008, and just the second golfer to win two World Golf Championships events before turning 30. Mahan took home the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2010, but hadn't won a tournament in 15 months.
Mahan was stellar from the first round on. In six victories, he totaled a tournament-best 35 birdies.
Mahan never trailed against McIlroy, a top seed and oddsmakers' favorite who could have ascended to No. 1 in the world with a win.
Mahan and McIlroy teed off at 12:20 p.m., with a crowd of a few thousand walking directly behind them as part of Match Play's "Follow the Leaders" promotion.
The finalists halved the first five holes before Mahan took a 1-up lead with a birdie on No. 6. McIlroy hit into the desert scrub on No. 7 and double-bogeyed, giving Mahan a 2-up lead. Mahan won the eighth hole with a par and birdied No. 10 to take a 4-up lead with eight holes to play.
That's when McIlroy, silent for most of the round, made his move. The Irishman eagled No. 11 with a chip, and - after halving the next two holes - won No. 14 with a 7-foot putt. Then the 22-year-old McIlroy's putter failed him. Missed shots on the 15th and 16th holes led to halved holes; Mahan clinched when the golfers scored matching pars on No. 17.
Mahan and his wife celebrated with Match Play officials and members of the Tucson Conquistadores, the tournament's fundraising arm. Though the tournament is expected to return to Southern Arizona in 2013 and 2014, its future at the Ritz remains in question. The luxury resort and golf course's contract is up and the PGA could pursue a closer, more accessible course. The Omni Tucson National is an option.
If Sunday marked the final Match Play on Dove Mountain, Mahan is a fitting champion. Mahan's first seven years on the PGA Tour were marked by flashes of inconsistency that he said were the result of taking the game too seriously. Mahan's marriage and corresponding maturation brought stability and precious perspective.
"I didn't want to have my identity stuck with my golf score," he said. "They needed to be separated, and I needed to play golf because I enjoyed it and accepted the result, and to move on and not get too attached to it.
"I was too attached to how I played and my results, and I didn't want to do that anymore."
When he separated himself, the talent flowed. Sunday, it was enough to overwhelm McIlroy.
The afternoon match lacked drama and tension, however, in part because of how both finalists punched their tickets. McIlroy was emotionally spent after edging England's Lee Westwood 3 and 1 in Sunday morning's semifinals, a match that played out like a soap opera in overseas newspapers.
Westwood and McIlroy used to share the same agent and representation, but McIlroy bolted for a better deal in October. The tense undercurrent during the semifinal match seemingly sapped McIlroy's resolve to win the final.
"But it still doesn't take away from the fact that Hunter played very, very solid golf," McIlroy said. "And even though I threw a few birdies at him and an eagle at him on the back nine, he still responded well and held on. I think during the course of the week, he had played the best golf and deserved to win."
Mahan was already winning. Sunday just confirmed it.
"I put everything I had into that match," he said. "It's pretty simple: Every match played here is going to be against a top player, and you have to play your best."
He's the Mahan
Hunter Mahan became the first American to win Match Play since 2008 when he defeated Rory McIlroy on Sunday. Here's a look at Mahan's five-day, six-match run to $1.4 million:
• First round: Defeated Zach Johnson in 19 holes
• Second round: Defeated Y.E. Yang 5 and 3
• Third round: Defeated Steve Stricker 4 and 3
• Quarterfinals: Defeated Matt Kuchar 6 and 5
• Semifinals: Defeated Mark Wilson 2 and 1
• Championship match: Defeated Rory McIlroy 2 and 1
