Volvo World Match Play Day 2

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

The rain came down in stair-rods - fortunately, it did so in the middle of the night when everybody was tucked up in bed. And when the 16-man field arrived at the London Club for the second day of the Volvo World Matchplay championship, the green staff had worked wonders and the course looked stunning.

Because of the amount of rain that has fallen, the players were given preferred lies. Incredibly, there wasn't a drop of water in the bunkers and the green were magnificent.

With the sun shining and hardly a breath of wind, the quality of the golf played was outstanding as the quarter-final line-up began to take shape.

Pre-tournament favourite Henrik Stenson produced a stunning performance, covering his last nine holes in eight under par to see off Francesco Molinari 2&1.

The Swede was three down after four holes against Molinari, but rallied in emphatic fashion to register his first victory of the week at London Golf Club, having halved his opening match with George Coetzee on day one.

Coetzee himself remains unbeaten after defeating last year’s finalist Thongchai Jaidee 2&1, whilst the most exciting finish of the day came in the Pablo Larrazábal versus Stephen Gallacher match, which went the Spaniard’s way after he chipped in from the rough for a dramatic birdie on the 18th hole and Gallacher missed a 15-foot putt for a half.

In the same group, Frenchman Victor Dubuisson has already qualified for the quarter finals after dispatching Shane Lowry 3&2. Dubuisson produced some sparkling golf and was simply too strong for the Irishman.

The Mark McCormack Group is on a knife edge with all four players on two points, after Jamie Donaldson beat Jonas Blixt 3&2 and Patrick Reed defeated Paul Casey 2&1.

In the Gustaf Larson Group, Graeme McDowell, the defending champion, suffered defeat at the hands of Mikko Ilonen 2&1, whilst Joost Luiten continued his fine form with a 4&3 victory over Alex Levy.

Stenson said: "I had a rocky start.  I gave away a couple of early gifts and I was three down through four. Having talked so much about getting off to a quick start and being up early, that wasn't really what I was planning.  But obviously I didn't give up so I was grinding it out and started playing better and better, then made some nice putts.

"I was eight under from the ninth onwards, so it was a good day especially considering I haven't touched a club for two weeks before coming here.  So I'll take that."

Luiten, who narrowly missed qualifying for Europe's Ryder Cup team, said: "In match play it's always hard to have expectations.  You just take it day by day and  try to make a lot of birdies in this format. I've been playing well, but if you play against somebody that makes nine or ten birdies, then you're probably going to lose, and there's not much you can do about it.

"It's going to be a tough one against Graeme [McDowell] tomorrow.  He's one of the best match play players in the world, but it's going to be a fun day."

McDowell knows that anything other than a victory is likely to end his interest in the tournament.

Image Credit: Twitter @GolfToday_it

Derek Clements is a sports journalist with a particular passion for golf with over 12 years of experience covering golf and other sports including Chief Sub-Editor on the sports desk of The Sunday Times. To contact Derek email direct via [email protected]