Volvo World Match Play Championship

Volvo World Match Play Championship
World Match Play Championship
Tournament information
Location Spain Andalusia, Spain
Established 1964
Course(s) Finca Cortesín Golf Club
Par 72
Length 7,380 yards (6,750 m)
Tour(s) European Tour
Format Match play
Prize fund 3,400,000
Month played May
Tournament record score
Score 10 & 8 Paul Casey (2006)
Current champion
England Ian Poulter

The Volvo World Match Play Championship is the current name of an annual match play men's professional golf tournament. From 2009 the event has been played at the Finca Cortesín Golf Club in Casares near Málaga, Spain, having previously been played at Wentworth Club near London. The event is traditionally played in the autumn, usually in October but sometimes in September, and is an official money event on the European Tour. Previous sponsors have included Piccadilly, Suntory, Toyota, Cisco and HSBC.

Contents

History

The tournament was founded by sports agent, Mark McCormack, as a showcase for the players he managed. The inaugural event in 1964 was won by Arnold Palmer, who was McCormack's first client. The calibre of the winners has consistently been very high, with the majority of the tournaments being won by players who have been ranked in the top two in the Official World Golf Ranking or its predecessor Mark McCormack's world golf rankings.

The event consists of 36-hole matches played in a single day. For many years it was a twelve man event, with four seeded players being given a bye in the first round. It was sometimes felt that this was unfair, as an unseeded player needed to string together eight successful rounds in four days to win, twice as many as in a stroke play tournament, whereas a seeded player only needed six successful rounds to win.

For its first forty years the tournament was an unofficial one, highly regarded by golf fans in Britain and many other countries outside the United States, popular with players, and happily coexisting with the European Tour, at whose home course it is played, but not taken into account on an official tour money list, and offering no World Ranking Points. The introduction in 1999 of the 64-man WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, which selected its field on the basis of the World Rankings, was a blow to the prestige of the older event, whose exhibitional aspects, with a small invited field, were emphasised by contrast.

In 2003, the tournament was given a major overhaul. Greatly increased sponsorship was secured from the largest British based bank, HSBC, and the winner's prize was increased to £1 million, which was then easily the largest in world golf (although the Nedbank Golf Challenge had had a $2 million first prize from 2000-02). In 2004, the field was increased to sixteen players, all of whom need to play eight rounds of golf to win, to eliminate the advantage previously given to seeds. A qualifying system based primarily on performances in the four majors, replaced the invitations of the past. World ranking points were allocated to the event (for the first time since 1999[1]), and the championship became an official money European Tour Order of Merit event - not however the actual prize money, as the first prize is far higher than for the other events on the tour, but scaled down amounts intended to be more proportionate. In recent years Americans have tended to decline their invitations. In 2005, no Americans took part at all, and with stalwart Ernie Els injured and Vijay Singh and Sergio García also absent, the field was one of the weakest seen at the event, with just one player from the world top ten. The 2006 event had a considerably stronger field with six of the world's top ten players headed by the world's top two ranked players Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. But in January 2007 HSBC activated a break clause in its ten year contract and withdrew from sponsorship after the 2007 event.[2]

Change of format and venue

After HSBC withdrew its sponsorship in 2007, the tournament was given another major overhaul. After a break in 2008, the tournament returned in 2009 with Volvo as the new title sponsor.[3] The event moved from Wentworth to the Finca Cortesín Golf Club near Málaga in Spain. The format switched to an opening round robin, with 16 players divided into four groups and the winners advancing to the 36-hole semi-finals. The qualifying criteria were also changed to include certain players based on their nationality. The total prize money for 2009 was €3,250,000, with €750,000 of that going to the winner.

After another break in 2010, the tournament returned in May 2011, several months earlier than the traditional date in autumn. The field was expanded to 24 players, split into eight groups, playing in a round robin format. The top two players from each group would progress to the knockout stage. Unlike previous years, all matches would be played over 18 holes. The total prize money for 2011 was €3,400,000, with €800,000 of that going to the winner.

Winners

Year Winner Country Runner-up Country Score
Volvo World Match Play Championship
2011 Ian Poulter  England Luke Donald  England 2 & 1
2010 No tournament
2009 Ross Fisher  England Anthony Kim  United States 4 & 3
2008 No tournament
HSBC World Match Play Championship
2007 Ernie Els (7)  South Africa Ángel Cabrera  Argentina 6 & 4
2006 Paul Casey  England Shaun Micheel  United States 10 & 8
2005 Michael Campbell  New Zealand Paul McGinley  Ireland 2 & 1
2004 Ernie Els (6)  South Africa Lee Westwood  England 2 & 1
2003 Ernie Els (5)  South Africa Thomas Bjørn  Denmark 4 & 3
Cisco World Match Play Championship
2002 Ernie Els (4)  South Africa Sergio García  Spain 2 & 1
2001 Ian Woosnam (3)  Wales Pádraig Harrington  Ireland 2 & 1
2000 Lee Westwood  England Colin Montgomerie  Scotland 38 holes
1999 Colin Montgomerie  Scotland Mark O'Meara  United States 3 & 2
1998 Mark O'Meara  United States Tiger Woods  United States 1 up
Toyota World Match Play Championship
1997 Vijay Singh  Fiji Ernie Els  South Africa 1 up
1996 Ernie Els (3)  South Africa Vijay Singh  Fiji 3 & 2
1995 Ernie Els (2)  South Africa Steve Elkington  Australia 3 & 1
1994 Ernie Els (1)  South Africa Colin Montgomerie  Scotland 4 & 2
1993 Corey Pavin  United States Nick Faldo  England 1 up
1992 Nick Faldo (2)  England Jeff Sluman  United States 8 & 7
1991 Seve Ballesteros (5)  Spain Nick Price  Zimbabwe 3 & 2
Suntory World Match Play Championship
1990 Ian Woosnam (2)  Wales Mark McNulty  Zimbabwe 4 & 2
1989 Nick Faldo (1)  England Ian Woosnam  Wales 1 up
1988 Sandy Lyle  Scotland Nick Faldo  England 2 & 1
1987 Ian Woosnam (1)  Wales Sandy Lyle  Scotland 1 up
1986 Greg Norman (3)  Australia Sandy Lyle  Scotland 2 & 1
1985 Seve Ballesteros (4)  Spain Bernhard Langer  Germany 6 & 5
1984 Seve Ballesteros (3)  Spain Bernhard Langer  Germany 2 & 1
1983 Greg Norman (2)  Australia Nick Faldo  England 3 & 2
1982 Seve Ballesteros (2)  Spain Sandy Lyle  Scotland 37 holes
1981 Seve Ballesteros (1)  Spain Ben Crenshaw  United States 1 up
1980 Greg Norman (1)  Australia Sandy Lyle  Scotland 1 up
1979 Bill Rogers  United States Isao Aoki  Japan 1 up
Colgate World Match Play Championship
1978 Isao Aoki  Japan Simon Owen  New Zealand 3 & 2
1977 Graham Marsh  Australia Raymond Floyd  United States 5 & 3
Piccadilly World Match Play Championship
1976 David Graham  Australia Hale Irwin  United States 38 holes
1975 Hale Irwin (2)  United States Al Geiberger  United States 4 & 2
1974 Hale Irwin (1)  United States Gary Player  South Africa 3 & 1
1973 Gary Player (5)  South Africa Graham Marsh  Australia 40 holes
1972 Tom Weiskopf  United States Lee Trevino  United States 4 & 3
1971 Gary Player (4)  South Africa Jack Nicklaus  United States 5 & 4
1970 Jack Nicklaus  United States Lee Trevino  United States 2 & 1
1969 Bob Charles  New Zealand Gene Littler  United States 37 holes
1968 Gary Player (3)  South Africa Bob Charles  New Zealand 1 up
1967 Arnold Palmer (2)  United States Peter Thomson  Australia 1 up
1966 Gary Player (2)  South Africa Jack Nicklaus  United States 6 & 4
1965 Gary Player (1)  South Africa Peter Thomson  Australia 3 & 2
1964 Arnold Palmer (1)  United States Neil Coles  England 2 & 1

Multiple winners

Through the 2011 event, the following players have won the World Match Play Championship more than once:

  • 7 wins:
    • Ernie Els — 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007
  • 5 wins:
    • Gary Player — 1965, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1973
    • Seve Ballesteros — 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1991
  • 3 wins:
    • Greg Norman — 1980, 1983, 1986
    • Ian Woosnam — 1987, 1990, 2001 (The only person to have won in three different decades)
  • 2 wins:
    • Arnold Palmer — 1964, 1967
    • Hale Irwin — 1974, 1975
    • Nick Faldo — 1989, 1992

Qualification criteria

For the 2011 championship, the qualification criteria are as follows:

  • Defending Champion
  • Winner of the 2010 Volvo China Open
  • The leading two players (not otherwise exempt above) from the 2010 Andalucía Valderrama Masters
  • The leading player (not otherwise exempt above) from the 2010 Dubai World Championship
  • The top four players (not otherwise exempt above) from the final 2010 European Tour Race to Dubai Rankings
  • The leading player (not otherwise exempt above) from the 2011 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship
  • The leading player (not otherwise exempt above) from the 2011 Volvo Golf Champions
  • The leading two players (not otherwise exempt above) from the 2011 Open de Andalucia
  • The leading player (not otherwise exempt above), based upon his nationality, listed on the Official World Golf Ranking, from each of the following regions following the completion of the 2011 Masters Tournament
    • Europe
    • Africa/Middle East
    • North America
    • South America
    • Asia (comprising China, South-East Asia, India, Japan and Korea)
    • Australasia (comprising Australia, Fiji and New Zealand)
  • The leading player (not otherwise exempt above) from the Official World Golf Ranking following the completion of the 2011 Masters
  • The leading two players (not otherwise exempt above) from the 2011 European Tour Race to Dubai Rankings following the completion of the 2011 Masters
  • The leading player (not otherwise exempt above) from the 2011 Volvo China Open
  • One sponsor invite taken from the top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking following the completion of the 2011 Masters

Media coverage

The World Match Play currently gets shown live by Sky Sports and it also gets broadcast in Ireland by Setanta Ireland.

References

External links


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