Matt Kuchar capped a four-under par 68 with a birdie at the final hole on Sunday to win the US PGA Tour's $6.2 million Memorial tournament by two strokes. Kuchar led by as many as four strokes on the back nine and his 12-under total of 276 gave him a two-shot triumph over American Kevin Chappell. Chappell closed with a bogey-free round in the Jack Nicklaus-hosted event at Muirfield Village, keeping the pressure on Kuchar with four birdies in his last six holes in a four-under 68 for 278. Kyle Stanley was third after a 71 for 281.

By Mark Lamport-Stokes MARANA, Arizona, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A seven-year victory drought on the PGA Tour helped American Matt Kuchar appreciate the difficulty of winning, and made his triumph at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday taste even sweeter. Kuchar was a gifted collegiate golfer who, as an amateur in 1998, tied for 21st at the Masters and 14th at the U.S. Open but he learned the hard way how inaccessible the winner's circle can be after turning professional in 2000.

By Mark Lamport-Stokes MARANA, Arizona, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Hunter Mahan came up agonisingly short in his bid to complete a successful title defence at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday but felt he had become a better player than he was a year ago. Until he went one-down to eventual winner Matt Kuchar at the par-four fourth in the final, Mahan had completed 169 consecutive holes without trailing in a run dating back to the opening round of last year's tournament.

Matt Kuchar denied Hunter Mahan a World Golf Championships Match Play Championship title repeat, triumphing over his fellow American 2 and 1 in Sunday's final at Dove Mountain. Kuchar, eliminated by Mahan in the quarter-finals of the elite 64-man event last year, avenged that defeat as he prevented Mahan from joining Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the title. Mahan was the first defending champion to return to the final since 2006 winner Geoff Ogilvy of Australia was runner-up in 2007.