After eight matches were won outright on the second morning of the Volvo World Match Play Championship, europeantour.com summarises the thoughts of the victors in Bulgaria…
Brett Rumford (after beating Jamie Donaldson 5&3)
“This morning the weather was absolutely beautiful and it was a pleasant match with Jamie - he's a really nice guy. Fortunately enough, I closed it out sooner rather than later. You want to try to conserve as much as you can in a championship like this. I know he fought yesterday with Gonzo, I know he was four down at one particular stage, so I had that in mind."
On attempting to become the first since Seve Ballesteros to win three European Tour trophies in a row:“He was an inspiration to all European Tour players, and especially in match play he was an extreme competitor and that's what you need to be successful in the format. It would be an honour, that's for sure.”
Scott Jamieson (after beating Carl Pettersson one up)
“I’m obviously delighted to get the first win under the belt but it wasn’t the finish to the match I wanted after being in a fairly strong position. But I enjoy match play, it’s what we are used to playing growing up. That was the majority of the golf so it’s nice to get to play it in professional terms because it doesn’t happen often.”
Francesco Molinari (after beating Felipe Aguilar 4&3 to top the Greg Norman group)
“I probably hit a few more loose shots today. I started very well again, but then he fought back and almost went all square. It’s definitely important to be accurate off the tees here as on a lot of holes if you’re not on the fairway then it’s probably a lost ball. I’ll do a bit of practice but it’ll mainly be resting and trying to get the energies back. Tomorrow will be a long day with two rounds and maybe Sunday, so it’s important to stay fresh for the rest of the week.”
Nicolas Colsaerts (after beating Kiradech Aphibarnrat 3&2)
“I played a little better than yesterday of course, kept the ball in play a bit more. Now I need to see what happens with the game (between Grace and Aphibarnrat) this afternoon. This place is different to Finca Cortesin (where he won in 2012) as regardless of whether you’re a big hitter or not you are usually in the same spot. It brings the guys back together.”
Richard Sterne (after beating Geoff Ogilvy 5&4)
“I played pretty solid and I’m hitting the ball pretty well, while Geoff gave me a couple of holes out there which obviously helps. The tee shots here are tight and it doesn’t quite suit my eye but if you get it in position you generally have short irons in and can attack the flags with benign conditions such as this. But if the wind blows things will change quite dramatically.”
George Coetzee (after beating Shane Lowry 3&2)
“I knew I definitely needed a win to have a chance of staying in the tournament. The way I played today I’m very happy so I hope I can go through or at least have that shot with the play-off. I didn’t know what could go wrong yesterday with no playing for four weeks but I felt a lot more comfortable today in knowing the spots to avoid.”
Thongchai Jaidee (after beating Thomas Aiken one up to top the Assar Gabrielsson group)
“It was a very solid round today again, same as yesterday. We were lucky with the forecast as I know it’s going to be very windy in the afternoon so it was good to get finished before that.”
Chris Wood (after beating Stephen Gallacher 2&1)
“To be honest there wasn’t a big difference to yesterday in terms of the quality of my play (when he lost 5&3 to Graeme McDowell). I scored better today of course, but yesterday I just gave away a couple of holes where I was given a couple today. That’s just how it goes though; 18 hole match play is a bit of a sprint so you’ve got to get the rub of the green. I’ve had a bad spell with my back – hence a six or seven week lay-off – but I’m ready to go now.”
