I almost quit final - Love

Davis Love admitted today he was ready to quit his Accenture Match Play Championship final with Tiger Woods after being heckled by a spectator.

Woods retained his title with a 3&2 victory at La Costa but the match was marred by the incident, particularly at the 20th hole of the 36-hole contest.

“It definitely affected me because he did it when I was preparing to hit shots,” said Love. “He was not here to watch golf and once we narrowed it down where he was we got rid of him.

“I was not going to play any more until somebody got kicked out because he had already cost me a hole. The second hole this afternoon I hit an awful shot because he rattled me and I was not going to put up with it.

“You don’t have to like me or pull for me, just respect me to let me play the game. The fans should not have an outcome on the game and for some reason they are starting to think they can.”

Love lost that hole to be pegged back to all square, and never won another hole as Woods took charge with three holes in a row from the 25th.

Woods was sympathetic to Love’s plight, conceding a short putt on the next hole, and said: “It is unfortunate that we are living in a time where it has changed quite a bit. I am sure 10, 15 or 20 years ago it was never like that.

“Golf fans were not raucous and did not need to yell out just because the ball gets airborne. We are professionals, we can get the ball airborne.

“It was unfortunate because Davis was playing well. You can block it out but after a while you are going to snap and he had every right to do that.”

The emergence of Woods has been cited as a reason for the change in make-up and behaviour of golf crowds, but he added: “I think it all started when John Daly won the USPGA in 1991.

“A lot of fans who might not have thought about coming out to watch golf started coming out. They are getting more excited and yelling more and it is great when they provide an environment which is exciting, but sometimes they cross the line.”

Woods is the only player to win all four of the WGC’s annual events, having completed the clean sweep here 12 months ago.

Ireland’s Darren Clarke, the winner in 2000 and 2003 NEC Invitational champion, is the only player to have won more than one WGC title.

It was Woods’ third final in five appearances in the event, and his record now reads played 23, won 20, lost three.

In the play-off for third and fourth place, Clarke completed an excellent week’s work with a two hole victory over Australia’s Stephen Leaney.

Clarke, who blew a two hole lead with two to play against Love in Saturday’s semi-finals, was two down with six to play but birdied the 13th and 16th on his way to victory.

Clarke therefore took home a cheque for $530,000 (€423,192) and with it a likely place in the top 10 of the world rankings.

Love looked like taking a handy lead after the morning round but Woods crucially birdied the final hole, smashing a drive and long iron onto the 558-yard par five, to go into lunch just one down.

In fact, Woods had little time for lunch as he headed for the practice range to try and sort out his errant driving, and although he was still occasionally wayward from the tee, his iron play eventually put him in a commanding position.

A bogey from Love on the 20th hole – where he was distracted by heckling from the gallery – allowed Woods back on level terms, and the world number one went in front for the first time with a birdie on the seventh.

He won the next two holes as well and the next seven were halved in pars as Love ran out of steam.