The four reigning Major Champions, five of the world’s top six players and a glittering array of global stars will bring their considerable force to bear on the beautiful Finca Cortesín Golf Club in Andalucia, this week, to contest the Volvo World Match Play Championship.
It is the first time in the illustrious history of the championship that all four current Major winners will feature, and the new format, with its group stage before progressing to the knock-out stages, is sure to offer plenty of drama and excitement.
Leading the 24-man field from a World Ranking perspective is Number One Lee Westwood, followed by the new World Number Two, Luke Donald, who moved up following his tied fourth finish at the Players’ Championship on Sunday.
US PGA Champion Martin Kaymer, now third in the world, US Open Champion Graeme McDowell, fifth, and Rory McIlroy, sixth, are the highest ranked players and they will be joined by current Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and Masters winner Charl Schwartzel in one of the 46 year old tournament’s strongest ever fields, with Ross Fisher defending the title he won in 2009.
Westwood, winner of the World Match Play title at Wentworth in 2000, is a huge fan of the tournament’s new format that sees the 24 participants split into eight groups of three players, with everyone playing two matches and the top two players from each group progressing to the knock-out stages on Saturday and Sunday.
“I played the new Volvo World Match Play Championship at Finca Cortesin in 2009 and found the facilities to be truly world class, and the new ‘Champions League’ format is exciting,” said the World Number One.
“This year, with an increased field of 24 of the best players in the world, the Volvo World Match Play Championship is back to its very best and is a credit to The European Tour. The event transported itself well to southern Spain, and its new springtime date means we have two huge events back-to-back on The European Tour in May, with big prize money and vital Race to Dubai and World Ranking points on offer.”
Kaymer, fresh from a top 20 place finish at the Players’ Championship last week, is looking to go one better than his previous Match Play adventure when he narrowly lost out to Donald at the WGC – Accenture Match Play in February.
“I can’t wait to return to Spain to play in the Volvo World Match Play Championship as I am hoping to do much better than I did in my debut in 2009,” said Kaymer. “I had a great run earlier in the year at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, so I am really looking forward to playing match play again and hope I can continue my good form.”
McDowell, meanwhile, is making his first appearance on European soil since the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last October, a week after he brought home The Ryder Cup for Europe in that unforgettable singles performance against the USA at the Celtic Manor Resort.
The elite field also features former Major Champions Retief Goosen and Y E Yang, experienced campaigners such as Johan Edfors, Anders Hansen, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Søren Kjeldsen and Paul Lawrie, US PGA Tour winners Ryan Moore, Jhonattan Vegas and Aaron Baddeley, two of game’s most biggest hitters in Nicolas Colsaerts and Alvaro Quiros, and the youngest player in the field, Seung-yul Noh of Korea.
The cosmopolitan mix features players from 14 nationalities, all with an eye on the €800,000 first prize from the prize fund of €3.4 million.
