Graeme McDowell finally records a victory at the Volvo World Match Play Championship – Golf news
Graeme McDowell showed his class at the Volvo World Match Play Championship, by bouncing back strongly in the final match against Thongchai Jaidee, to record a 2&1 score victory.
The tournament was being staged at the Thracian Cliffs Golf & Beach Resort, featuring some of the best players from the European Tour, as well as from the Asian Tour.
“Obviously a nice day and a great trophy,” said McDowell. “I talked about it all week about the prestige of this event and how many great champions, and nice to add my name to that list of legends.”
Last year, the Northern Irishman finished second in the same tournament. This year, he once again made it into the final, courtesy of his outstanding game in the qualifiers and the knockout games.
In the final round, he made a slow start and was 2-Down against his rival after six holes. However, he did not want to finish the event with the same second position this year.
Therefore, he bounced back strongly by squaring the scores by recording birdies on the seventh and the 12th hole. He then secured another two points on the 14th and the 15th hole, to finish the tournament on the top.
Talking to the European Tour’s official website, he expressed his pleasure in finally making it into the winners list of the tournament.
“We talked a lot about what Volvo have done with this event, what they have done with golf around the world and coming to Bulgaria this week obviously was a brave move,” he added. “Sitting here with the trophy I'm going to say great things about the place
but I think if you talk to all the players, I think everyone enjoyed themselves.”
According to him, his name to be listed among some of the legends of the game, such as Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Sir Nick Faldo, is a great achievement for him.
In the meantime, Jaidee went back home with a consolation of €400,000 as prize money and a spot in the top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings, which makes him eligible for a berth in the US Open this year.
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