Volvo World Match Play - Quarter Finals

And so we reached the business end of the Volvo World Matchplay championship, with not a British or Irish player in sight as the quarter-finals got under way.

 

Stephen Gallacher left without winning a match, Paul Casey flattered to deceive, Jamie Donaldson looked like he needed a break, Shane Lowry's game was off-colour and even Graeme McDowell, the defending champion and that most accomplished of all matchplay competitors, had to admit defeat after winning just one of his three group matches. What were the odds of all five being sent packing before the knockout stages began?

 

But that didn't mean there was a lack of quality in the quarter-finals. Henrik Stenson, who took on fellow Swede Jonas Blixt, was in magnificent form, Victor Dubuisson, facing Finland's Mikko Ilonen, is one of the most exciting players in the game, Pablo Larrazabal, who played Joost Luiten, is surely the most animated of all players on the European Tour, and the match between Patrick Reed, the abrasive American, and the big-hitting George Coetzee, of South Africa, would grace any matchplay event.

 

So there was plenty to whet the appetitie of the crowds at the London Club.

 

Luiten, the only player to win all three of his group matches, quickly had Larrazabal scratching his head as the Dutchman produced one great shot after another. His victory was always a question of "when", not "if", and he duly thrashed the Spaniard 6&5 in a one-sided match to progress to the semi-finals.

 

The 28-year-old, who was considered for a Ryder Cup wild card by European captain Paul McGinley, was gifted the opening hole when Larrazabal found water with his approach to the par five, and then won the second, fifth, sixth and seventh to move five up.

 

Luiten moved further ahead with a birdie on the 11th and even when Larrazabal recorded just his second birdie of the day on the 12th, Luiten followed him in from 20 feet for a half before closing out the match on the next. He was seven unde rpar for the 13 holes he played.

 

Luiten will face Ilonen in the last four after the Finnish player surprisingly got the better of Dubuisson who, for once, was let down by his normally remarkable short game. The pair went down the last with Ilonen one up and when he won the hole, Dubuisson's challenge was over. Ilonen was seven under par.

 

Coetzee, who beat Reed on the 21st hole in the second round of the WGC-Accenture Matchplay in February, only got into the event on Monday as a replacement for the injured Thomas Bjorn. But he made sure of his place in the semi-finals with his eighth birdie of the day on the 16th and a par on the 17th to seal a 2&1 win.

 

He will play Stenson, who recorded six birdies on his way to a two up victory over Blixt.

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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]