Graeme McDowell is used to being "beaten up" by Rory McIlroy in practice, but now they are to meet for real for the very first time in the last 16 of the Volvo World Match Play Championship this morning.
McDowell topped his group at Finca Cortesin when he followed up his win over the Open champion Louis Oosthuizen with a last-green defeat of Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas. His Ryder Cup partner McIlroy would have avoided him – at least for the time being – had he beaten Nicolas Colsaerts and topped his section. By losing 3&2 to the Belgian the 22-year-old goes into a match with McDowell, who on Sunday shot 79 to drop from first to 33rd in the Players Championship.
McDowell said: “He beats the crap out of me every time we play together. But this is the Northern Ireland match play championship and I’m hoping it’s going to be different. I am sure he will expect to beat me, but it will be a great game. He is a fabulous player, so talented. This course is all about driving the ball and he is pretty good at that.
“It’s hard to play against a close friend, but you’ve got to leave your friendship on the sidelines. I stopped playing him because he’s too good. I’m more of an observer and he just tends to beat me up.”
Another all-Ryder Cup match for a place in the quarter-finals will feature the world No.1 Lee Westwood against Ian Poulter.
Westwood was in dazzling form for the second day running, seven under par in beating Australian Aaron Baddeley 4&3.
“I’ve carried on from where I left off in Indonesia and Korea,” said the Worksop golfer, who is now seeking his third successive victory. “I will try to keep that going, but match play is different – you can play well and lose.”
Poulter has shown that under the tournament’s new format it is also possible to come through the group without winning.
He halved with Scot Paul Lawrie just as he had with Francesco Molinari, but progressed because the Italian then ended the hopes of the 1999 Open champion Lawrie.
Luke Donald and Martin Kaymer, both of whom could take the No.1 spot off Westwood this weekend, had their second victories.
Donald overcame defending champion Ross Fisher 3&1, but Fisher also went through after a win over Ryan Moore, while Kaymer has so far defeated the Koreans YE Yang and Noh Seung-yul.
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