Is the consolation match really necessary?

I've always been under the impression that the players who compete in the consolation match on Sunday at the Accenture Match Play Championship look un-enthused and somewhat demoralized.  They never seem to want to be there.  This certainly was the case yesterday when Henrik Stenson defeated Justin Leonard 3 and 2 to finish in third place.  Stenson said in a post round interview to Mark Rolfing of NBC Sports:

It’s kind of flat, not being in the final.  I don’t know if either one of us would like to play in real honesty, but that’s the nature of the game…I think it’s been a long week for both of us and if we can’t reach the final then, since we both lost yesterday, so we’re sort of ready to pack up and go home really.

I don't blame Stenson.  Both he and Leonard had to play their final two holes with rock music echoing from the tents nearby because the Woods-Cink match had just finished.  I guess that shows how important their match was.