Westwood, McIlroy keep Volvo hopes alive

As the second day of the Volvo World Match Play Championship got underway at Finca Cortesin, Spain; Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy would be fighting for their right to stay in the tournament.

Westwood did his chances of making the weekend’s semi-finals with a convincing two hole victory over fellow Englishman Ross Fisher, while McIlroy also kept his hopes alive with a similar two-hole victory of Simon Dyson.

Westwood’s win, coupled with Camilo Villegas’ victory over Jeev Milka Singh means all four players are tied on two points each in Group B with one match to play. McIlroy’s group – Group C – is similarly poised after Henrik Stenson defeated current US Masters champion Angel Cabrera, also by two holes.

Afternoon matches between McIlory and Stenson, a repeat of their recent Seve Trophy match which McIlroy won, and Cabrera and Dyson, will decide which player goes through to the semi-finals.

Anthony Kim, the only American in the field, holds the lead in Group A while Oliver Wilson leads Group B with four points and both are strong favourites to progress to the semi-finals. Both players need only half their respective matches to ensure their qualification for Saturday’s matches.

Street Golf scores a hole-in-one in Paris

You wouldn’t expect to see a game of golf taking place in the streets of your local town. Instead those looking for a bit of golfing time would ordinarily take to their local park or, if they were close, to their local golf course.

But what happens if you don’t have either to hand when you want to tramp the fairways? Well, the citizens of Paris, France have come up with a novel way to indulge in the golfing experience – street golf!

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Statement from Your Golf Travel: The Inta Group

Dear Golfer,

On 22nd October 2009 The Inta Group, which traded under companies such as 3D Golf, 4Golf, Bill Goff and Longshot, ceased trading. Your Golf Travel is committed to help past Inta Group customers who had already booked, or were looking to book, in the coming weeks and months. We are have set up a dedicated line in our office to help with any issues – please call 0207 336 5356 to speak with a member of our Sales Team. Read more

Casey crashes out of World Match Play Championship

It was supposed to be a triumphant return for Paul Casey in the Volvo World Match Play Championship at Finca Cortesin, Spain as the world number four player made his long-awaited return to competitive golf.

However, it turned out to be a completely different story for Casey as he lost both his group matches, each by a one hole margin; first losing to tournament outsider Scott Strange, and then to US Ryder Cup player Anthony Kim, widely regarded as one of the strongest match play golfers in the world.

Day one of the tournament also saw the hopes of Martin Kaymer and home favourite Sergio Garcia ended. England’s Lee Westwood and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy can still qualify for the semi-finals having played only one match on Thursday. However, both will have to play much better than they did in their respective openers, with both players on the wrong end of heavy defeats.

Westwood, the Race to Dubai leader and second-favourite for the tournament suffered a crushing 6 hole defeat by Indian star Jeev Milka Singh, who until only a few days ago was rated a doubt to even participate due to foot trouble. The group’s other match saw England’s Ross Fisher record a two-hole victory over Columbian Camilo Villegas.

McIlroy, meanwhile was thumped by five holes by current US Masters champion Angel Cabrera, despite being one up after six holes in their opening group match. In the other match in the group, Henrik Stenson was beaten by the in-form Simon Dyson. Dyson looked comfortable in his match, having been five holes up on the Swede at one point. However, Stenson, rusty after a six-week layoff reduced the deficit to two holes before Dyson won the match on the 15th.

Garcia loses to Wilson at World Match Play

Sergio Garcia’s bid to win the Volvo World Match Play Championship in his native Spain has got off to the worst possible start after he was on the wrong end of a one-hole defeat by Englishman Oliver Wilson, in their opening group B match.

Wilson, ranked 40 in the world and making his first appearance in the World Match Play Championship tournament defeated Garcia over the Finca Cortesin course, near Marbella with a one-under par round of 71. Their match was a close fought affair; with never more than one hole between the pair as they fought across eighteen holes and the duo were level through the first five holes.

However, Wilson took the lead with a birdie at the sixth hole, but was pegged back by Garcia on the eighth, before the Spaniard edged in front after Wilson dropped a shot on the twelfth. But Garcia’s advantage was relatively short-lived and a bogey on the 14th hole, followed by a Wilson birdie on the 15th swung the tie back in favour of the Englishman.

From there on in, the pair tied the remaining holes to hand Wilson the perfect start and leave Garcia an uphill battle to make the semi-finals on Saturday.

In other matches, Australian Scott Strange defeated number one seeded Paul Casey by one hole, while American Ryder Cup player Anthony Kim defeated two-time US Open champion Reteif Goosen by a 3&2 margin to round off the matches in Group A.

In Group B, Strange’s fellow Australian Robert Allenby defeated Germany’s Martin Kaymer by one hole to top the group alongside Wilson.

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