Westwood heads strong Matchplay field

Westwood going for a quick hat-trick

Lee Westwood will bid to win his third consecutive tournament when he tees it up at the Volvo World Matchplay Championship at the beautiful Finca Cortesin Golf Club in Andalucia on Thursday.

The World No.1, who won the World Matchplay in 2000 at its old home Wentworth, will be joined by a galaxy of world-class stars including all four reigning major champions – a first in the tournament’s illustrious 46-year history.

But that’s not the only landmark this week, as the championship takes on a new format - all 24 participants have been seeded accordingly and split into eight groups of three, with the top two players from each group progressing to the knock-out stages at the weekend.

“I played the new Volvo World Matchplay Championship at Finca Cortesin in 2009 and found the facilities to be truly world class, and the new ‘Champions League’ format is exciting,” said Westwood.

“This year, with an increased field of 24 of the best players in the world, the Volvo World Matchplay 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.”

Westwood will open his account against Denmark’s Anders Hansen on Thursday, before meeting Australia’s Aaron Baddeley on Friday afternoon.

In-form Luke Donald, who climbed into second on the world ladder following his tie for fourth at TPC Sawgrass, will look to emulate his WGC-Matchplay success in February, but will first need to jump the hurdle of holder Ross Fisher and America’s Ryan Moore before gunning for Westwood’s hot seat.

Another player with sights set on Westwood is US PGA champion Martin Kaymer, who will take on Korean duo YE Yang and Seung-yul Noh, while US Open champion Graeme McDowell will hope to bounce back from his final-round disaster in Florida on Sunday, against Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas.

Other interesting group ties on Thursday include Rory McIlroy against Retief Goosen and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel against Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Volvo World Matchplay Championship

Group Stage

(1) Lee Westwood, (16) Anders Hansen, (17) Aaron Baddeley
(8) Francesco Molinari, (9) Ian Poulter, (24) Paul Lawrie
(4) Graeme McDowell, (13) Louis Oosthuizen, (20) Jhonattan Vegas
(5) Rory McIlroy, (12) Retief Goosen, (21) Nicolas Colsaerts
(2) Luke Donald, (15) Ryan Moore, (18) Ross Fisher
(7) Charl Schwartzel, (10) Miguel Angel Jimenez, (23) Johan Edfors
(3) Martin Kaymer, (14) YE Yang, (19) Noh seung-yul
(6) Paul Casey, (11) Alvaro Quiros, (22) Soren Kjeldsen