Along winning his first World Golf Championship, the 34-year-old Poulter won for the first time on American soil.

"It's been a long time coming," Poulter said, after closing out Casey with a par on the 34th hole. "I knew I was in great form. I felt comfortable all day on the golf course."

Poulter won for the ninth time on the European Tour and moved to a career-best No. 5 in the world ranking. He earned $1.4 million, the biggest prize of his career.

Known mostly for what's in his closet, Poulter quickly is gaining a strong reputation for his prowess in match play. He improved his overall record in the Match Play Championship to 18-7, and was so dominant on the weekend that he trailed for only one hole over the final 50 holes of the tournament.

Read More... Poulter Prevails [GolfDigest.com]

Pettersen opens the season strong but can't hold off hard charging Miyazato

In other DLGA student news, Suzann Pettersen played bogey free golf for the first three rounds of the season opening Honda PTT LPGA in Thailand, but couldn't withstand an impossible rally in the final round by Ai Miyazato who shot a 9-under 63 to take the tournament by a stroke.

Miyazato, six strokes behind Pettersen after the third round, was 6 under in a six-hole stretch midway through the round, then birdied three of the last six holes to match the tournament record of 21 under set by Pettersen in October 2007.

"There's nothing I can do when Ai shoots 9 under," Pettersen said.

"I played pretty good golf and I don't waste much energy thinking of why I didn't win it. For me, it was a great start. ... Obviously, it's not a win. I had two bogeys this entire week, they both came today, but it's hard to play four rounds of no bogey golf. What I've been doing this winter has been a good thing."

Read More... Miyazato Rallies For Win [GolfDigest.com]