Graeme McDowell feeling on top of the golfing world. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c)
FROM THE BBC SPORT.COM WEBSITE
Graeme McDowell made amends for last year's defeat in the final by
beating Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee to win the World Match Play
Championship this afternoon.
The Northern Irishman came from two down after four
holes to win 2 and 1 at the Thracian Cliffs course in the Bulgarian
coastal resort of Kavarna.
McDowell, 33, had earlier beaten South Africa's Branden Grace 3amd 2 in their semi-final.
Jaidee saw off another South African, Thomas Aiken, by the same score.
It looked as though the Thai player was on his way to
victory in the final after he birdied the second and fourth holes, with
McDowell producing several vital par saves on the front nine.
However, the 2010 US Open champion worked his way back
into contention and a third birdie at the par-five 14th put him in
front.
When Jaidee missed a birdie opportunity at the 15th,
McDowell made him pay to go two-up, and he wrapped up the title by
holing out to halve the par-three 17th.
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Graeme
McDowell overcame Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee 2 and 1 in the final of
the Volvo World Match Play Championship to become the first Irishman/Ulsterman to
put his name on the trophy alongside some the golf’s most legendary
names.
McDowell,
who defeated Branden Grace in his morning semi-final 3 and 2 to book
his place in the final at the stunning Thracian Cliffs Beach and Golf
Resort in Bulgaria, was delighted to win for the second time in the
space of just four weeks
following his victory on the US PGA Tour last month.
Those
two successes have propelled McDowell to seventh on the Official World
Golf Ranking, while his €800,000 first prize took him to the very top of
The European Tour’s Race to Dubai.
Reading
the names of the past champions of the 50 year old tournament that was
first staged in 1964, McDowell said: “Els, Montgomerie, Westwood,
Ballesteros, Norman, Lyle, Faldo, Player, Palmer – it's just crazy stuff
really. These guys
are legends of The European Tour and legends of golf so to have your
name on a trophy this cool is pretty special.
“I'll
drink a couple cold ones tonight and enjoy this. This is a special
moment in my career, no doubt about it. Wins are super special. You
know, two in four weeks, that's great. I'm feeling pretty good
right now.”
After
some seriously explosive golf in both semi-finals – both McDowell and
Jaidee played superbly in their respective 3 and 2 wins over Grace and
South African Thomas Aiken – the final was an understandably tight
match, with Jaidee taking
an early lead to go two up through four holes.
A
birdie on the seventh saw McDowell half the Thai’s lead before the
Northern Irishman made a pair of brilliant back-to-back par saves on the
ninth and tenth to stay one down.
With
the pressure mounting on the back nine, The 33 year old brought all of
his US Open and Ryder Cup winning experience to the fore, birdieing the
12th to level the match before Jaidee dropped a shot on the 14th to
hand McDowell the lead for the first time in the match.
“The
key putts really this afternoon were with the par saves on 9 and 10;
they were massive,” said McDowell, who added a second Volvo title to his
CV, having made his breakthrough professional victory at the 2002 Volvo
Scandinavian Masters.
“I
sensed from Thongchai after that that he was starting to fatigue a
little bit. I really sensed a bit of an opening. I just had to hit the
shots and I did that well coming down the stretch. The mistake he made
on 14 and then the birdie
I made on 15 was really the telling stuff and I managed t close it out
from there.”
Volvo World Match Play Championship
Day 4 results:
Semi-finals
Thongchai Jaidee bt Thomas Aiken 3 and 2
Graeme McDowell bt Branden Grace 3 and 2
Final
McDowell bt Thongchai Jaidee 2 and 1.
Labels: PRO GOLF
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