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The event consists of 36-hole matches played in a single day. For many years it was a twelve man event, with four seeded players being given a bye in the first round. It was sometimes felt that this was unfair, as an unseeded player needed to string together eight successful rounds in four days to win, twice as many as in a [[stroke play]] tournament, whereas a seeded player only needed six successful rounds to win.
The event consists of 36-hole matches played in a single day. For many years it was a twelve man event, with four seeded players being given a bye in the first round. It was sometimes felt that this was unfair, as an unseeded player needed to string together eight successful rounds in four days to win, twice as many as in a [[stroke play]] tournament, whereas a seeded player only needed six successful rounds to win.


For its first forty years the tournament was an unofficial one, highly regarded by golf fans in Britain and many other countries outside the United States, popular with players, and happily coexisting with the [[PGA European Tour|European Tour]], at whose home course it is played, but not taken into account on an official tour money list, and offering no [[Official World Golf Rankings|World Ranking Points]]. The introduction in 1999 of the 64-man [[WGC-Accenture World Match Play Championship]], which selected its field on the basis of the World Rankings, was a blow to the prestige of the older event, whose exhibitional aspects, with a small invited field, were emphasised by contrast.
For its first forty years the tournament was an unofficial one, highly regarded by golf fans in Britain and many other countries outside the United States, popular with players, and happily coexisting with the [[PGA European Tour|European Tour]], at whose home course it is played, but not taken into account on an official tour money list, and offering no [[Official World Golf Rankings|World Ranking Points]]. The introduction in 1999 of the 64-man [[WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship]], which selected its field on the basis of the World Rankings, was a blow to the prestige of the older event, whose exhibitional aspects, with a small invited field, were emphasised by contrast.


==The current Championship==
==The current Championship==

Revision as of 00:12, 16 January 2008

The HSBC World Match Play Championship is the current sponsored name of a match play golf tournament played annually at Wentworth Club near London. In 2007 it is reverting to its traditional month of October after being played in September for a few years. Previous sponsors have included Piccadilly, Suntory, Toyota and Cisco.

History

The tournament was founded by Mark McCormack as a showcase for the players he managed. The inaugural event in 1964 was won by Arnold Palmer, who was McCormack's first client. The calibre of the winners has consistently been very high, with the majority of the tournaments being won by players who have been ranked in the top two in the Official World Golf Ranking or its predecessor Mark McCormack's world golf rankings.

The event consists of 36-hole matches played in a single day. For many years it was a twelve man event, with four seeded players being given a bye in the first round. It was sometimes felt that this was unfair, as an unseeded player needed to string together eight successful rounds in four days to win, twice as many as in a stroke play tournament, whereas a seeded player only needed six successful rounds to win.

For its first forty years the tournament was an unofficial one, highly regarded by golf fans in Britain and many other countries outside the United States, popular with players, and happily coexisting with the European Tour, at whose home course it is played, but not taken into account on an official tour money list, and offering no World Ranking Points. The introduction in 1999 of the 64-man WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, which selected its field on the basis of the World Rankings, was a blow to the prestige of the older event, whose exhibitional aspects, with a small invited field, were emphasised by contrast.

The current Championship

In 2003, the tournament was given a major overhaul. Greatly increased sponsorship was secured from the largest British based bank, HSBC, and the winner's prize was increased to £1 million, which was then easily the largest in world golf (although the Nedbank Golf Challenge had had a $2 million first prize from 2000-02). In 2004, the field was increased to sixteen players, all of whom need to play eight rounds of golf to win, to eliminate the advantage previously given to seeds. A qualifying system based primarily on performances in the four majors, replaced the invitations of the past. World ranking points were allocated to the event, and championship became an official money European Tour Order of Merit event - not however the actual prize money, as the first prize is far higher than for the other events on the tour, but scaled down amounts intended to be more proportionate. In recent years Americans have tended to decline their invitations. In 2005, no Americans took part at all, and with stalwart Ernie Els injured and Vijay Singh and Sergio García also absent, the field was one of the weakest seen at the event, with just one player from the world top ten. The 2006 event had a considerably stronger field with six of the world's top ten players headed by the world's top two ranked players Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. [1]. But in January 2007 HSBC activated a break clause in its ten year contract and will withdraw from sponsorship after the 2007 event, leaving the future of the tournament in doubt. [1]

Winners

Year Player Country Runner-Up Country Score
HSBC World Match Play Championship
2007 Ernie Els  South Africa Ángel Cabrera  Argentina 6 & 4
2006 Paul Casey  England Shaun Micheel  United States 10 & 8
2005 Michael Campbell  New Zealand Paul McGinley  Ireland 2 & 1
2004 Ernie Els  South Africa Lee Westwood  England 2 & 1
2003 Ernie Els  South Africa Thomas Bjørn  Denmark 4 & 3
Cisco World Match Play Championship
2002 Ernie Els  South Africa Sergio García  Spain 2 & 1
2001 Ian Woosnam  Wales Pádraig Harrington  Ireland 2 & 1
2000 Lee Westwood  England Colin Montgomerie  Scotland 38 holes
1999 Colin Montgomerie  Scotland Mark O'Meara  United States 3 & 2
1998 Mark O'Meara  United States Tiger Woods  United States 1 up
Toyota World Match Play Championship
1997 Vijay Singh  Fiji Ernie Els  South Africa 1 up
1996 Ernie Els  South Africa Vijay Singh  Fiji 3 & 2
1995 Ernie Els  South Africa Steve Elkington  Australia 3 & 1
1994 Ernie Els  South Africa Colin Montgomerie  Scotland 4 & 2
1993 Corey Pavin  United States Nick Faldo  England 1 up
1992 Nick Faldo  England Jeff Sluman  United States 8 & 7
1991 Seve Ballesteros  Spain Nick Price  Zimbabwe 3 & 2
Suntory World Match Play Championship
1990 Ian Woosnam  Wales Mark McNulty  Zimbabwe 4 & 2
1989 Nick Faldo  England Ian Woosnam  Wales 1 up
1988 Sandy Lyle  Scotland Nick Faldo  England 2 & 1
1987 Ian Woosnam  Wales Sandy Lyle  Scotland 1 up
1986 Greg Norman  Australia Sandy Lyle  Scotland 2 & 1
1985 Seve Ballesteros  Spain Bernhard Langer  Germany 6 & 5
1984 Seve Ballesteros  Spain Bernhard Langer  Germany 2 & 1
1983 Greg Norman  Australia Nick Faldo  England 3 & 2
1982 Seve Ballesteros  Spain Sandy Lyle  Scotland 37 holes
1981 Seve Ballesteros  Spain Ben Crenshaw  United States 1 up
1980 Greg Norman  Australia Sandy Lyle  Scotland 1 up
1979 Bill Rogers  United States Isao Aoki  Japan 1 up
Colgate World Match Play Championship
1978 Isao Aoki  Japan Simon Owen  New Zealand 3 & 2
1977 Graham Marsh  Australia Raymond Floyd  United States 5 & 3
Piccadilly World Match Play Championship
1976 David Graham  Australia Hale Irwin  United States 38 holes
1975 Hale Irwin  United States Al Geiberger  United States 4 & 2
1974 Hale Irwin  United States Gary Player  South Africa 3 & 1
1973 Gary Player  South Africa Graham Marsh  Australia 40 holes
1972 Tom Weiskopf  United States Lee Trevino  United States 4 & 3
1971 Gary Player  South Africa Jack Nicklaus  United States 5 & 4
1970 Jack Nicklaus  United States Lee Trevino  United States 2 & 1
1969 Bob Charles  New Zealand Gene Littler  United States 37 holes
1968 Gary Player  South Africa Bob Charles  New Zealand 1 up
1967 Arnold Palmer  United States Peter Thomson  Australia 1 up
1966 Gary Player  South Africa Jack Nicklaus  United States 6 & 4
1965 Gary Player  South Africa Peter Thomson  Australia 3 & 2
1964 Arnold Palmer  United States Neil Coles  England 2 & 1

Multiple winners

Through the 2007 event, the following players have won the World Match Play Championship more than once:

  • 7 times: Ernie Els
  • 5 times: Seve Ballesteros and Gary Player
  • 3 times: Greg Norman and Ian Woosnam
  • 2 times: Nick Faldo, Hale Irwin and Arnold Palmer

Qualification criteria

This is the current qualification system. The largest category is criteria 3, which is based on the major championships, but criteria 4 and 5 give favourable treatment to members of the European Tour.

1. The defending champion.

2. The World Number One on the Official World Golf Ranking as at March 31 in the year of the Championship.

3. The leading ten available players, not qualified under criteria 1 or 2, from the HSBC Major Championship Rankings as at the conclusion of the PGA Championship. These rankings reflect the actual World Ranking points earned in the four majors.

4. The leading two available European Tour Members from the HSBC European Tournament Rankings, not qualified under criteria 1, 2 or 3. These rankings reflect the actual World Ranking points earned by European Tour Members in the following seven events:

5. The leading two available European Tour members, not qualified under criteria 1, 2, 3 or 4, from the European Tour Order of Merit, as of three weeks before the Championship.

The defending champion is seeded #1, while the rest of the seeds are determined by the Official World Golf Ranking.

Media coverage

The World Matchplay currently gets shown live by BBC and it also gets broadcast in Ireland by Setanta Ireland.

References

  1. ^ Don't Bank on HSBC, sportbusiness.com, 31 January 2007.