Paul Casey will attempt to become the first Englishman to make a successful defence of the HSBC World Match Play Championship as many of the game’s biggest names descend upon Wentworth Club to do battle for the richest first prize in golf.
Never before has an Englishman defended the Mark McCormack Trophy over the West Course at Wentworth Club, with Nick Faldo the only Englishman to have won the title more than once after his victories in 1989 and 1992.
Casey, the automatic Number One seed as defending champion, will start his title defence against 16th seed, American Jerry Kelly, over 36 holes on Thursday.
However, aiming to claim the title for themselves are many giants of the game including Major Champions Angel Cabrera, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington, as well as BMW PGA Championship winner Anders Hansen, Colin Montgomerie, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.
Cabrera rarely performs poorly at Wentworth Club. The 2007 US Open Champion won the BMW PGA Championship there in 2005 and has always had special relationship with Harry Colt’s masterpiece that was subtly modernised by Els in 2006 and now measures 7320 yards. The Argentine, seeded nine, starts his week with an intriguing tie against eighth seed Goosen.
Another mouthwatering clash features the Number Two seed Els against 15th seed Montgomerie. The South African World Number Five, a resident on the Wentworth estate, is the tournament’s most prolific champion, having won the event on six occasions, but will come up against the Scot who is also a West Course specialist having won the PGA Championship on three occasions as well as the World Match Play Championship itself in 1999.
Number Three seed and reigning Open Champion Harrington opens his account with a match against 14th seed Hansen, while the fourth seed, World Number Eight Rory Sabbatini, starts his debut in the tournament with a tie against the 13th seed Søren Hansen.
Completing the intriguing first round line up is a match between seventh seed Niclas Fasth and tenth seed Andres Romero while two American debutants, 11th seed Woody Austin and 12th seed Hunter Mahan, open up against sixth seed Stenson and fifth seed Rose respectively.
