VOLVO WORLD MATCH-PLAY SHOCKS
Top seed Casey, Garcia and Kaymer all
miss out on place in semi-finals
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
American Anthony Kim was the star of the first day at the Volvo World Match Play Championship as he secured two wins to put himself in prime position to make the last four.
But Paul Casey, the No 1 seed, lost twice on his return to golf in Spain - and even with another group game still to come, he has no chance of making the semi-finals.
On a day of upsets at Finca Cortesin near Marbella, a very different test to the event's previous home Wentworth, the title hopes of Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer were ended as well.
Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy each suffered a defeat too - but because they played only once on the opening day, they could yet make it through to the last four.
Kim started the day with a comprehensive four-hole win over Retief Goosen, before seeing off the challenge of Casey in the afternoon.
“I haven't had this much fun playing golf in quite a long time,” said Kim. “It's been a tough year, but my coach and I had a great week last week and I feel like I finally started progressing instead of going backwards.
“I'm not there yet, but I'm definitely making more birdies, definitely feel more confident about my game, and I think that's all golf is about, confidence. So my caddie and I did a good job of staying patient when things weren't going well for us, and just made pars and grinded it out. So if we keep this up, we are going to be in good shape.”
Still troubled by the rib muscle injury which had kept him out of action since August 6, top seed Casey lost to Scott Strange and then to American Ryder Cup player Kim.
"Not great - I can't swing the way I want," Casey admitted after his one-hole defeat to Strange, who, at 168th in the World Rankings, is 164 places below the 2006 match-play title winner.
"I'm coming out of a lot of the shots. Scott played well. But having said that, I gave him three holes on the front - and you can't do that against anybody in this field."
He was three down at the turn against Kim - and even when he chipped in at the 14th, it was only for a half.
Under the old format it would have ended 3 and 2. But for the group stage all games continue to the 18th, and he went down by three holes. However, Casey was a lot cheerier at the end of the day.
"This morning I was questioning whether I had come back too early," he said. "But I don't now. That was much better - I hit a lot of good shots."
With Kim also beating Goosen and then the South African getting the better of Strange, it is Kim in control of his own destiny in Group A. He is likely to progress even if he loses narrowly to Strange.
England's Oliver Wilson, unable to play the Wednesday pro-am after waking up with a bad neck, is in pole position in Group B after wins over Garcia and Kaymer, both by one hole.
His last group game is against Robert Allenby, who missed out on the same double when Garcia birdied the last for a half.
Even with that point, however, Garcia's match with Kaymer cannot take either to the top and Wilson will go through with a half against Allenby. Lose, though, and he is out.
"I was very nervous all day yesterday," commented Wilson, who had to pull out of the Players Championship in May with the same problem.
"I get so conscious of it and didn't sleep very well, trying to stay in the right position. Towards the end of my first match it was tightening up, but overall it was pretty good and to win twice on the first day is everything I wanted to do.
"To beat Sergio in Spain is a really good scalp for me."
In Group C, Simon Dyson was a three-hole winner over Henrik Stenson, with Angel Cabrera doing his hole-difference no harm at all in defeating McIlroy by five.
Portugal Masters winner Westwood was comprehensively outplayed by Jeev Milkha Singh, although the India golfer was not getting carried away.
“In match-play I think anything can happen,” he said. “It depends on whoever holes more putts, and we'll see what happens. I'm excited about that.”
Ross Fisher was the other victorious player in Group D, winning by two against Colombia’s Camilo Villegas.
FIRST-DAY RESULTS
+All matches played over 18 holes.
Numbers in brackets are players' seeding.
Group A
(16) Scott Strange (Aus) bt (1) Paul Casey (Eng) by one hole
(9) Anthony Kim (US) bt (8) Retief Goosen (SAf) by four holes
Kim bt Casey by three holes.
Goosen bt Strange by one hole.
Group B
(13) Oliver Wilson (Eng) bt (4) Sergio Garcia (Spa) 1 hole
(12) Robert Allenby (Aus) bt (5) Martin Kaymer (Ger) 1 hole
Garcia halved with Allenby.
Wilson bt Kaymer 1 hole.
Group C
(14) Simon Dyson (Eng) bt (3) Henrik Stenson (Swe) 3 holes
(11) Angel Cabrera (Arg) bt (6) Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 5 holes
Group D
(15) Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) bt (2) Lee Westwood (Eng) 6 holes
(10) Ross Fisher (Eng) bt (7) Camilo Villegas (Col) 2 holes
miss out on place in semi-finals
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
American Anthony Kim was the star of the first day at the Volvo World Match Play Championship as he secured two wins to put himself in prime position to make the last four.
But Paul Casey, the No 1 seed, lost twice on his return to golf in Spain - and even with another group game still to come, he has no chance of making the semi-finals.
On a day of upsets at Finca Cortesin near Marbella, a very different test to the event's previous home Wentworth, the title hopes of Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer were ended as well.
Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy each suffered a defeat too - but because they played only once on the opening day, they could yet make it through to the last four.
Kim started the day with a comprehensive four-hole win over Retief Goosen, before seeing off the challenge of Casey in the afternoon.
“I haven't had this much fun playing golf in quite a long time,” said Kim. “It's been a tough year, but my coach and I had a great week last week and I feel like I finally started progressing instead of going backwards.
“I'm not there yet, but I'm definitely making more birdies, definitely feel more confident about my game, and I think that's all golf is about, confidence. So my caddie and I did a good job of staying patient when things weren't going well for us, and just made pars and grinded it out. So if we keep this up, we are going to be in good shape.”
Still troubled by the rib muscle injury which had kept him out of action since August 6, top seed Casey lost to Scott Strange and then to American Ryder Cup player Kim.
"Not great - I can't swing the way I want," Casey admitted after his one-hole defeat to Strange, who, at 168th in the World Rankings, is 164 places below the 2006 match-play title winner.
"I'm coming out of a lot of the shots. Scott played well. But having said that, I gave him three holes on the front - and you can't do that against anybody in this field."
He was three down at the turn against Kim - and even when he chipped in at the 14th, it was only for a half.
Under the old format it would have ended 3 and 2. But for the group stage all games continue to the 18th, and he went down by three holes. However, Casey was a lot cheerier at the end of the day.
"This morning I was questioning whether I had come back too early," he said. "But I don't now. That was much better - I hit a lot of good shots."
With Kim also beating Goosen and then the South African getting the better of Strange, it is Kim in control of his own destiny in Group A. He is likely to progress even if he loses narrowly to Strange.
England's Oliver Wilson, unable to play the Wednesday pro-am after waking up with a bad neck, is in pole position in Group B after wins over Garcia and Kaymer, both by one hole.
His last group game is against Robert Allenby, who missed out on the same double when Garcia birdied the last for a half.
Even with that point, however, Garcia's match with Kaymer cannot take either to the top and Wilson will go through with a half against Allenby. Lose, though, and he is out.
"I was very nervous all day yesterday," commented Wilson, who had to pull out of the Players Championship in May with the same problem.
"I get so conscious of it and didn't sleep very well, trying to stay in the right position. Towards the end of my first match it was tightening up, but overall it was pretty good and to win twice on the first day is everything I wanted to do.
"To beat Sergio in Spain is a really good scalp for me."
In Group C, Simon Dyson was a three-hole winner over Henrik Stenson, with Angel Cabrera doing his hole-difference no harm at all in defeating McIlroy by five.
Portugal Masters winner Westwood was comprehensively outplayed by Jeev Milkha Singh, although the India golfer was not getting carried away.
“In match-play I think anything can happen,” he said. “It depends on whoever holes more putts, and we'll see what happens. I'm excited about that.”
Ross Fisher was the other victorious player in Group D, winning by two against Colombia’s Camilo Villegas.
FIRST-DAY RESULTS
+All matches played over 18 holes.
Numbers in brackets are players' seeding.
Group A
(16) Scott Strange (Aus) bt (1) Paul Casey (Eng) by one hole
(9) Anthony Kim (US) bt (8) Retief Goosen (SAf) by four holes
Kim bt Casey by three holes.
Goosen bt Strange by one hole.
Group B
(13) Oliver Wilson (Eng) bt (4) Sergio Garcia (Spa) 1 hole
(12) Robert Allenby (Aus) bt (5) Martin Kaymer (Ger) 1 hole
Garcia halved with Allenby.
Wilson bt Kaymer 1 hole.
Group C
(14) Simon Dyson (Eng) bt (3) Henrik Stenson (Swe) 3 holes
(11) Angel Cabrera (Arg) bt (6) Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 5 holes
Group D
(15) Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) bt (2) Lee Westwood (Eng) 6 holes
(10) Ross Fisher (Eng) bt (7) Camilo Villegas (Col) 2 holes
Labels: Pro Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Thursday, October 29, 2009
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