Stellar Final Field Confirmed For 2013 Volvo World Match Play Championship

Australian Brett Rumford won the 2013 Volvo China Open and in doing so qualified for the 2013 Volvo World Match Play Championship, while a resurgent Henrik Stenson received the coveted sole invitation on offer.

Rumford & Stenson complete an elite 24-man field that includes 14 of World’s top 50 challenging for the title at the breathtaking Thracian Cliffs Golf & Beach Resort in Bulgaria from the 16th to the 19th May, 2013.

The new Volvo China Open Champion Brett Rumford, who also won the Ballantine’s Championship the previous week and has risen from 138th to 76th on the Official World ranking, was ecstatic to win his first Volvo title and qualify for the Volvo World Match Play Championship.

Rumford said "I feel very honoured to have won this event, and one of the great things about it is that it gets me into a fantastic event like the Volvo World Match Play Championship. It’s another stepping stone in my career, and I’m really looking forward to teeing it up against so many great players."

The 2013 field contains a strong showing of proven match play stars, namely five of our European Ryder Cup heroes, Ian Poulter, the 2011 Volvo World Match Play Champion, Graeme McDowell, the 2010 US Open Champion, Peter Hanson, six-time European Tour winner, Italy’s Francesco Molinari and Nicolas Colsaerts, the defending champion,

Stand-out US PGA Tour players World No 26, American Bo Van Pelt and American-based Swedish star World No.37, Carl Pettersson are making their first appearance in the Volvo World Match Play Championship while Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy is returning for the first time since 2005.   Other notable Championship debutantes include Masters stand-out and World No.33 Thorbjorn Olesen and World No.31 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano from Spain who will be competing for an increased prize fund of  €3,000,000 (€250,000 more than 2012) with the eventual winner taking home a €800,000 first prize.

The 2013 Championship marks both 50 years since the inaugural World Match Play Championship and Volvo’s 130th title sponsorship in men’s professional golf as well as their 80th tournament on the European Tour.

This is the first full European Tour event to be played in Bulgaria as the Championship moves to the much-lauded Gary Player designed signature course. Framed by rugged coastal cliffs and the vast blue of the Black Sea, which can be viewed from each and every hole.

The qualified players are divided into eight groups of three players to be played out on Thursday and Friday with 16 players progressing to Saturday’s knock-out stage with the semi-finals and final played on Sunday. The draw will be made at an official press conference at Thracian Cliffs at 1.30pm on Tuesday, 14th May.

2013 Volvo World Match Play Championship Final Field:
 

Player                        How they Qualified

Thomas AIKEN                   Leading player from the 2013 R2D Rankings following the 2013 US Masters      
      
Felipe AGUILAR                  Leading player listed on the OWGR from South America following the 2013 Masters

Kiradech APHIBARNRAT Leading player from the 2013 R2D Rankings following the 2013 US Masters             

George COETZEE              Leading player listed on the OWGR from Africa /MEast following the 2013 US Masters

Nicolas COLSAERTS        Defending Champion

Jamie DONALDSON          Leading player from the 2013 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship

Gonzalo FEDZ-CASTANO  Leading player from OWGR following the 2013 US Masters    

Stephen GALLACHER       Leading player from the 2013 R2D Rankings following the 2013 US Masters             

Branden GRACE                                Top four players  from the final 2012 R2D Rankings

Peter HANSON                   Top four players  from the final 2012 R2D Rankings

Thongchai JAIDEE             Leading player listed on the OWGR from Asia following the 2013 US Masters

Scott JAMIESON                Leading player from the 2013 Volvo Golf Champions

Shane LOWRY                    Leading player from the 2012 Portugal Masters

Graeme McDOWELL         Leading player listed on the OWGR from Europe following the 2013 US Masters              

Francesco MOLINARI       Top four players  from the final 2012 R2D Rankings

Geoff OGILVY                      Leading player listed on the OWGR from Australasia following the 2013 US Masters

Thorbjorn OLESEN            Leading player from the 2013 R2D Rankings following the 2013 US Masters             

Carl PETTERSSON            Leading player from OWGR following the 2013 US Masters   

Ian POULTER                      Top four players  from the final 2012 R2D Rankings

Henrik STENSON               Sponsor invite from the top 50 of the OWGR following the 2013 US Masters

Richard STERNE                Leading player from the 2013 R2D Rankings following the 2013 US Masters             

Bo VAN PELT                      Leading player listed on the OWGR from N America following the 2013 US Masters

Chris WOOD                        Leading player from the 2013 Commercialbank Qatar Masters             

Brett RUMFORD             Leading player from the 2013 Volvo China Open