Kevin Sutherland became golf's latest million-dollar winner when he came from behind no fewer than six times to beat fellow American Scott McCarron in the final of the Accenture world match play championship in California on Sunday.

Twenty years on from a schoolboy clash between the two which Sutherland also won, the 37-year-old took the title by splashing out of a greenside bunker to 18 inches on the last for his first US Tour win in 184 starts. And this a week after Len Mattiace did it at the 220nd go.

McCarron, joint runner-up to Mattiace at the Nissan Open after bogeying the last, missed an eight-foot putt to stay alive this time, but a cheque for £384,212 ought to make him feel considerably better about his latest near-miss.

The 36-hole final between the 45th seed McCarron and the 62nd seed Sutherland - only in the 64-strong field because he was eighth in the Phoenix Open a month ago - saw Sutherland finally get his nose in front at the 33rd.

McCarron breathed a sigh of relief when a three-footer to stay alive two holes later circled the rim before dropping, but minutes later he was conceding defeat again to his boyhood friend.

"It might not be an amazing story to the rest of the world, but it's really cool for Sacramento," said Sutherland, whose dream week began when he beat world number three David Duval from two down with two to play.

At least he turned up more properly dressed than he was for their 1982 clash as teenagers.

When he qualified for the PGA Tour in 1986 Sutherland received a photograph from McCarron of the two of them shaking hands - with Sutherland dressed in a pair of skimpy shorts at the top of his matchstick legs and below his big Afro haircut.

"Now you're on tour don't turn up looking like this," was McCarron's accompanying message.

In the third hole play-off - itself worth £314,355 to the winner and £251,484 to the loser - Brad Faxon beat Paul Azinger at the 19th when Azinger bogeyed.

Meanwhile, the failure of the stars to shine at the championship - not for the first time - has not frightened off the sponsors.

As Sutherland and McCarron did battle a new four-year deal was being announced, with the likelihood that it stays in California.

That eight of the world's top 10 failed to survive their first two matches at La Costa, the likely venue again next season at least, was merely following the pattern of the event in its first three years.

In 1999 the casualty rate by the same stage was nine out of 10, Tiger Woods being the exception.

Two years ago six of the 10 were out of town before Friday and even in Melbourne last year, when most of the leading lights did not even play, only one of the top 10 seeds who were there (Ernie Els) made it past the third round.

It shows what strength in depth golf has, of course, and also that the 18-hole format is almost designed to produce shocks by the bucket-load. An event which loses Woods, world number two Phil Mickelson and world number three David Duval on its opening day is bound to have questions asked of it.

One suggestion was that there should be strokeplay for a couple of days and then the leaders go into match play.

Quarter-finalist Tom Lehman said: "Maybe TV doesn't like it so much that Tiger Woods isn't here. But what the heck - Pete Sampras loses in the first round and he doesn't keep playing until he makes it into the final.

"I mean, match play is match play. The beauty of this tournament is that number 64 can beat number one."

Two other alternatives may be considered. One is to reward the top 16 in the world ranking with byes into the third round and have 64 other players competing for the right to play them.

That has the benefit of giving 80 players rather than 64 the chance to win.

The other is to make the same change which was introduced at the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews. Instead of straight knock-out, have 16 groups of four playing for three days, with the winners then facing off over the weekend.

The defeats of Woods, Mickelson and Duval did not help the European contingent at La Costa.

Montgomerie, 2000 winner Darren Clarke, 11th seed Padraig Harrington, Paul Lawrie, Phillip Price, Pierre Fulke, Bernhard Langer and Jesper Parnevik were instant losers, then Lee Westwood and Paul McGinley followed the next day.

When Niclas Fasth and Sergio Garcia were beaten in the third round Jose Maria Olazabal was left up against seven Americans in the quarter-finals. He got no further.

"I don't know if you can ready anything into it," commented Azinger. "Europeans are unbelievable, Aussies are great, Japanese players are unbelievable.

"They just bit the bullet this week. They just didn't hang in there. You might have four in the semi-finals next year."

Sutherland, however, nailed his colours firmly to the Stars and Stripes mast.

"I'm biased because I think the PGA Tour has the best players in the world," he said. "I guess the European tour may argue that fact, but that's just the way I feel. I think we have the most depth."

And McCarron added: "This is a world championship with a star-studded field, great players, international cast, and to have four Americans in the semi-finals is hopefully something we can take over to the Ryder Cup."

The final might have been between the two most notable omissions from match at The Belfry in September - Lehman and Olazabal - but although they did not make it all the way, nor did anybody who will be there.

McCarron reacted to losing the final by saying: "I am playing better than anybody in the world right now."

It was the second week in a row the 36-year-old had finished second and his first reaction was: "Everybody cheer up. It was a great week."

But then he added: "It's brutal to go close again and I'm really disappointed. I felt I played a lot better than my opponent and felt I should have won.

"He was all over the place in the morning, but he made only one bogey and his short game was phenomenal."