World Matchplay losing vital star quality

Golf Correspondent

Wednesday 16 May 2012

The cut-and-thrust of matchplay, the purest form of this Royal & Ancient game, has always made for an enticing, exciting, unpredictable spectacle.

Paul Lawrie is presented with a gift to mark his 500th European Tour event by Keith Waters, chief operating officer and director of international policy, at Finca Cortesin. Picture: Getty Images

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nick rodger

In a schedule dominated by strokeplay contests, the occasional appearance of head-to-head combat makes for a refreshing change and this jousting will return to the golfing scene tomorrow in Marbella when the Volvo World Matchplay Championship tees off at the Finca Cortesin resort on the Costa del Sol.

Our own Paul Lawrie will be among the combatants, so, too, will Ian Poulter, the defending champion. Darren Clarke, the current holder of the claret jug, is also pitching up alongside Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Retief Goosen, Charl Schwartzel, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia. It's not a bad old line-up but the addition to the "elite" field of the likes of Richard Finch, currently 218th in the world, and South African Jbe Kruger hardly gets the juices flowing.Back in the day, of course, the World Matchplay, once a staple of the autumn schedule, was an eagerly anticipated showpiece. The brainchild of the late Mark McCormack, the driving force behind global marketing powerhouse IMG, it was first staged at Wentworth in 1964. Players had suites in The Ritz and were ferried back and forth in Rolls-Royces. The competitors themselves were all classic marques. Arnold Palmer won that inaugural contest and, in the decades that followed, the roll of honour became a who's who of the global game. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els . . . the list goes on.In recent years, though, the championship has lost much of what made it great. A rejigging of the format, a move away from its Wentworth home, the introduction of the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship and a couple of years when the event wasn't even played have all contributed to a slow erosion of its stature."It's sad the world matchplay as we knew and loved it has gone, very sad," was the lament of Bernard Gallacher, the former Ryder Cup player and the professional at the Wentworth club between 1975 and 1996. "But its prestige had been in decline for some years, ever since the top players stopped coming along. There was only ever one World Matchplay Championship, and that was the one played at Wentworth."The field for this week's championship, will feature 24 players divided into eight groups of three for an initial series of round- robin duels, still has plenty going for it. There's a first prize of £700,000 up for grabs and even those who fail to make it past the group stages will be ushered out of the door with a cheque for £60,000 to ease the disappointment. Yet, the absence of the big movers and shakers is a damaging blow. Luke Donald, last year's runner-up, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, the champion in 2000, have all opted to delete the event from their diaries. In fact, no player in the top eight of the world rankings is making an appearance and there will be only token representation from the United States.It's hardly surprising that the top brass are giving it a body swerve. As we hurtle towards the peak season, the minds of the players are focused primarily on the upcoming majors. Having been moved from its traditional autumn slot and shoe-horned in between two marquee events on either side of the Atlantic – last week's Players Championship and next week's BMW PGA Championship – the timing was always going to lessen its impact. It's been suggested that another venue now needs to be found and, given its failure to lure the game's leading lights, you wonder how long title sponsor Volvo will remain committed to the championship.Like a matchplay tie, the future of this proud old event is somewhat unpredictable.*Two decades on from making his European Tour debut in 1992, Paul Lawrie will rack up his 500th appearance on the circuit at this week's Volvo World Matchplay Championship.The former Open champion will become only the second major winner, after Ian Woosnam, to reach the milestone and will join a small band of Scots, currently made up of Sam Torrance, Gordon Brand Jr and Colin Montgomerie, in an exclusive club.Torrance holds the European Tour record of 706 appearances and, while that target remains some way off for Lawrie, the rejuvenated Aberdonian is showing no sign of easing up."I'm 43, but I feel like there is a wee bit left in the tank yet," said Lawrie, who is still very much in the running for a place in Europe's Ryder Cup team this year. "I can see me getting to 600 appearances now. To get to 700, where Sam is at, is a huge number. Playing for 40 years is just an incredible record. I think we'll leave Sam at the top for a while. I don't think I'm in danger of overtaking him but I'd like to get to 600."

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World Matchplay losing vital star quality

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