( CNN ) -- England 's Luke Donald beat new world number one Martin Kaymer by 3 & 2 to win the snow-hit WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona Sunday . Freezing overnight conditions and the unexpected snowfall struck the Dove Mountain course ahead of the 18-hole final , but once it begun it was Donald who warmed to his task from the start . He pulled three clear by the fifth , play briefly held up by a hailstorm which left the players sheltering for cover , and was never headed . But Germany 's Kaymer hit back when Donald three-putted the short sixth and a birdie on the par-5 eighth saw the gap cut to just one hole . PGA champion Kaymer drew level as Donald made a hash of the ninth , finding the desert rough with his second , but that was as close as he got to victory . Donald took the lead again with a birdie on the long 11th , extended it at the next as Kaymer bogeyed and went three-up with a further birdie on the 15th . He closed out the biggest victory of his career on the short 16th and the $ 1.4 million check . It was his third win on the PGA Tour , but first since 2006 , taking him to a career-high number three in the new rankings Monday behind Kaymer and compatriot Lee Westwood . `` It could n't have gone any better -- not to get to the 18th hole in any match this week and pretty much go through reasonably stress-free , '' Donald told the official PGA Tour website . `` I played solid this week . It 's nice to get the victory . '' Donald had never trailed throughout his six matches and needed just 73 holes to reach the final , beating Tiger Woods ' record of 77 . Kaymer will console himself with taking over as No.1 from Westwood , but called Donald a `` very tough opponent '' as he could never get to grips with his Ryder Cup teammate in the cold conditions . In the all-American third place play-off , Matt Kuchar beat Bubba Watson 2 & 1 in a scrappy match .
Luke Donald wins WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona . Donald beats Arizona 's the PGA Tour in Monday 's final . Unexpected snowfall hits Dove Mountain course overnight . Luke Donald beats Bubba Watson in 18th place playoff .