[caption id="attachment_71776" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Graeme McDowell."]
For the second year in a row, Graeme McDowell was matched with Nicolas Colsaerts in the Volvo World Match Play Championship. The only difference this time around is that they met up in the final round with everything at stake, whereas last year they clashed in the quarterfinal round. One thing that didn’t change was the result – Colsaerts defeated McDowell this year, just as he did in 2011.
Colsaerts didn’t have it easy, however. McDowell made the Belgian hole out on the final green at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain to collect his loot.
McDowell was in chase mode throughout his encounter with Colsaerts. The 2010 U.S. Open champ squared the match three times on the front nine, and then twice trimmed a hole off a 2-hole deficit on the backside.
The event began with 24 golfers segmented into eight sections, with each golfer playing the other two in his section in order to advance. McDowell handled Robert Karlsson, 1 up, and Jbe Kruger, 4 and 3 to move on.
At the same time, Darren Clarke was falling to Robert Rock, 2 up, and Justin Rose, 6 and 4, to get knocked out of further play.
McDowell continued his winning streak on Saturday over Richard Finch, 3 and 2, and Sergio Garcia. The latter match was decided on the 19th green.
Sunday morning found McDowell enjoying a 2 up win over Rafael Cabrera Bello, while Colsaerts labored through 20 holes before finally putting Paul Lawrie away. That set up the final round, which was hampered by strong winds.
Erratic iron play by McDowell worked to Colsaerts’ benefit, but the Belgian gifted McDowell by 3-putting the 15th and 17th greens.
The match was decided at 18, a par 5, with Colsaerts on the green in two. McDowell’s wedge approach flew the green, leaving Colsaerts an open door to the title. This time he didn’t need three putts for his ball to drop.
“The conditions today were brutal, so really have to fire and grind to stay in the position you were in,” Colsaerts said after defeating McDowell. “These two games today really, really killed me mentally.”
“The elements played a huge part,” said McDowell, who has thrived on playing in difficult conditions, such as those he encountered learning the game in Portrush. “I’m disappointed that they probably came out the winner today, rather than the two players. It really affected the standard of golf. They really played into his hands the way he drove the ball; he drove the ball phenomenally well. He’s got great wind game and he’s a fantastic talent. I got beat by the better man.”
PGA TOUR
Padraig Harrington strung together four strong rounds after derailing the previous week at the Players Championship. He finished joint-15th at the Byron Nelson Classic at TPC Four Seasons in Irving, Texas, seven strokes behind the suddenly seemingly unbeatable Jason Dufner.
In an ironic twist, Harrington nearly lost as many strokes to par (5) in his first round as he did in the three subsequent rounds combined (6), although he hung up his best score (68) in that first round. That was because he also came up with five birdies and an eagle-3 to tilt the scale in his favor.
Although he played well to avoid serious damage in those final three rounds, shooting 69, 70 and 69, he never did come up with more than three birdies on any day. While catching up with Dufner was something of a non-starter late on Sunday, Harrington cost himself a top-10 finish with bogeys at 15 and 17. That 15th hole also bit him on both Thursday and Saturday.
ALPS TOUR
One thing that was certain as the playoff commenced at the conclusion of regulation at the Gosser Open was that the champion would be Irish. But would it be Brendan McCarroll or Gareth Shaw?
Shaw birdied the 18th hole to finish the 54-hole Austrian tournament abreast of McCarroll atop the leaderboard. They both finished 14 strokes under par at 202. McCarroll shot rounds of 68, 66 and 68, while Shaw signed to 67, 68 and 67.
They matched each other at 18 on the first extra hole, but Shaw’s drive landed behind a tree the next time down the fairway, which compromised his approach. McCarroll had merely to make par to pick up his first title on this feeder circuit to the European Tour.
