Draws announced for the opening rounds of Volvo World Match Play Championship
This week’s Volvo World Match Play Championship on the European Tour will be returning after one-year break at the Finca Cortesin. The draw for the knock-out format of the championship was announced yesterday at the star studded ceremony where the 24-player
field has been divided into eight groups of three players each. Top player from each group will proceed to the quarterfinal stage of the championship.
Reigning champion of golf, Englishman Lee Westwood is paired with Denmark’s Anders Hansen and Australian young wizard Aaron Baddeley in the group named as the “Seve Ballesteros” group. Luke Donald, who has not finished out of the top ten in the season and
is one of the prolific players of the Match Play format, will pose a serious threat to the defending champion and countryman Ross Fisher and American Ryan Moore. The three are paired in the group “Mark McCormack”. Donald is currently ranked number two in the
OWGR after a brilliant season so far.
Germany’s thriving talent and former World number one, Martin Kaymer is paired with Korean Contenders, YE Yang and Seung-yul Noh in the “Arnold Palmer” Group. Kaymer will have to perform his best to keep a check on the charging Koreans as YE Yang is coming
out of a successful week at the TPC Sawgrass where he won the lucrative Players Championship. Reigning US Open champion Graeme McDowell is paired with the 2010 Open champion South African Louis Oosthuizen and Jhonattan Vegas in the “Ian Woosnam” Group.
The “Gustaf Larson” group comprises of two times Open Championship winner Retief Goosen, world number six Rory Mcilroy and Nicolas Colsaerts. McIlroy is battering with his form after he collapsed in the final round of the Masters last month. He also failed
to make the cut at the Wells Fargo at Quail Hollow last week. Colsaerts will also pose a formidable challenge for the duo as he has just returned after a glorious win at the Volvo China Open.
“I'm going to need some of my best golf to beat those guys,” McIlroy admitted.
The €3.4-million event is returning to Finca Cortesin after a break of one year and boosts of one of the strongest fields of its history.
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