Volvo World Match Play Championship Memories

May 14, 2012 – For the Volvo World Match Play Championship all it began on a misty morning at the Wentworth Club near London, Friday 9th October 1964 to be precise, the brainchild of the late Mark H McCormack, founder of IMG, three days of match play golf, pitching eight of the best golfers in the world is what many consider to be the purest form of golf, man-against-man, head-to-head.

Match play golf was given something of a shot in the arm in 1927 when English seed merchant and golf enthusiast Samuel Ryder put up the small gold cup for a bi-annual match between Great Britain and the USA, McCormack’s creation going on to become to individuals what the Ryder Cup is for teams, simply the best.

The record books reveal that American star Arnold Palmer, the then reigning US Masters champion defeated homespun Englishman Neil Coles by 2&1, winning the princely sum of £5,000 from a total prize purse of just £16,000, the world match play championship show was on the road.

Palmer – and his South African IMG stable mate Gary Player were to dominate the early years of the autumnal showpiece at Wentworth, the pair sharing the first five titles before the third member of golf’s most famous triumvirate, Jack Nicklaus took the title in 1970.

A look back down the Roll of Honour reveals just how many great golfers won the World Match Play Championship; in addition to the ‘Big 3,’ of Palmer, Player and Nicklaus, Greg Norman, the ‘Great White Shark,’ conjoured-up a hat-trick of wins, as did Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo a brace.

Then there was the man for whom match play golf could have been invented, the Spanish star, the late, great Seve Ballesteros, five finals, five World Match Play Championship crowns, all won in typical swashbuckling style and with panache.

But, when it comes to the recent history of the World Match Play Championship – not to be confused with the WGC Accenture Match Play, which was only inaugurated in 1999 – one name and one name only stands out from the crowd.

Theodore Ernest ‘Ernie’ Els won the first of a remarkable seven World Match Play Championship titles at Wentworth in 1994, triggering the first-ever three-in-a-row.

After a hiatus of five years without winning what many considered to be Ernie’s ‘home’ championship – the man they call the ‘Big Easy’ was back with a bang, another three-in-a-row from 2002 to 2004 won just over his garden wall, a seventh secured in 2007, which proved to be the last of 44 magnificent match plays over Wentworth’s world-famous West Course.

“It’s great that Volvo, which has been such a huge sponsor of the European Tour has taken over the tournament and maybe I’ll get the opportunity one day to win an eighth title,” said Els.

Volvo took over the event in 2009

Indeed, when Volvo took over the event in 2009, the Swedish automotive brand began ringing the changes, moving it to the spectacular and self-contained, five-star golf resort of Finca Cortesín, in Andalucía, Spain, with Englishman Ross Fisher, who, ironically cut his teeth at Wentworth emerging as the champion from a truly world class field.

Two-years-later, the rejuvenation of this once great championship was complete, a move to a new, strategically important springtime date, the field expanded to 24 to embrace the clamour of global golf greats seeking a piece of the action at one of the word’s finest golf venues, Finca Cortesín, a hotel and golf course fit for the very best.

And it was to be another man for whom match play comes quite naturally, extrovert Englishman Ian Poulter, whose Ryder Cup record is second to none and who already had the WGC Accenture Match Play title in his locker, 2011 Volvo World Match Play Championship winner.

Poulter emerged victorious from a field of unprecedented quantity and quality – all four reigning ‘Major’ champions were in the field, as were the top three players in the world, seven of the top 10 too – a thrilling 2 & 1 victory over the current world number-one, his compatriot and Ryder Cup colleague Luke Donald for what was his 11th, and, to date most prestigious title.

With both hands firmly on the iconic Volvo World Match Play Championship trophy at Finca Cortesín in May 2011, asked about his penchant for match play golf, the newly-crowned champion Poulter observed, “I hate losing and when I can see my opponent straight in the face, I really hate to lose, so I guess that might be one of the reasons. I’m stubborn, and I guess that helps.”

Can Ian James Poulter become the first man since Ernie Els in 2004 to successfully defend his Volvo World Match Play Championship?

No doubt, he can, but there will be 23 of the best golfers in the world going all-out to stop him and get their own name onto one of the most highly-prized and exclusive winners’ circles in global golf.

By REDACCIÓN