Groups and Draw Announced

10/26/2009

The groups and matches for the ‘round-robin’ stage of the 16-man Volvo World Match Play Championship are announced below with the players competing in an all new format at Finca Cortesin from the 29^th October to 1^st November.

Colin Montgomerie, the 2010 European Ryder Cup Captain commented, “Seeing the final draw totally justifies Volvo’s decision to change to the group format. There really are some tantalising match ups and it is going to be a thoroughly entertaining week for all the spectators. I am delighted that Volvo’s inaugural year partnering the World Match Play Championship has attracted such a world class field with their refreshed qualifying criteria. I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing how some of these intriguing match ups unfold. This will be very interesting viewing for me with my Ryder Cup hat on but as anyone who knows me will suspect, a big part of me will be wishing I was out there as one of the 16 qualified players!” 

The 16-man field is grouped based on their seeding as determined by today’s Official World Golf Ranking. On Thursday and Friday each player will play their group members in a round robin format over full 18-hole matches with points awarded based upon a win, tie or loss. The leading player from each group will qualify for the semi-final knock out stage with aggregate number of holes won used to determine tied positions.

The winner of each group will qualify for the semi finals to be held on Saturday which, along with the final on Sunday, will be played over 36 holes in the traditional head-to-head match play format. The semi finals will be contested between the winner of Groups A & B  and C & D.
  
GROUPS

    
The total prize money for the 2009 Volvo World Match Play Championship will be €3,250,000.

1st:                                          €750,000
2nd:                                         €450,000
3rd:                                          €250,000
4th:                                          €200,000
Runner up in group:       €150,000
3rd in Group:                 €130,000
4th in Group:                 €120,000

The four group names each have a historical significance to the revamped Volvo World Match Play Championship, bringing together a traditional past and a powerful future.
The Seve Ballesteros Group requires little explanation, in recognition of the reputation, achievements and fortitude of the man who has 5 World Match Play Championships to his name and can boast of never losing final.
The ‘Mark McCormack Group’ is named in honour of the founder of IMG, Mark H McCormack whose brainchild the World Match Play Championship was almost half-a-century-ago.
Meanwhile the names of the two other groups, the ‘Gustaf Larson Group’ and the ‘Assar Gabrielsson Group’ have been adopted in appreciation and the memory of Volvo’s founders, who began the now global Volvo automotive brand in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1927.
This is the 45^th edition of the World Match Play Championship and will be Volvo’s first time as Championship partners with IMG, having hosted the 21^st and final Volvo Masters at Club de Golf Valderrama in 2008.  The Finca Cortesín event is Volvo’s 120^th title sponsorship in professional golf.The Championship will be held in Spain for the first time in its history moving from Wentworth Club to the magnificent 7,439-yard course at Finca Cortesin designed by Cabell B Robinson.

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