Ian Poulter defeats Luke Donald in the final at Finca Cortesín in one of the tournaments with the best line-up of players (six of the top seven in the world) played in Spain.
It was undoubtedly one of the best tournaments played in Spain in recent years, especially for the category of the stars who gathered in the splendid course designed by the American Cabell B. Robinson, located in a resort, Finca Cortesin, one of those that give prestige not only to the Costa del Sol but to all of Spain.
Among the 24 players who played the Volvo World Match Play at Finca Cortesín, in Casares, were the reigning champions of the four Majors (Schwartzel, McDowell, Oosthuizen and Kaymer), six of the seven best players in the world and the bulk of the European team that won the last Ryder Cup.
As if that were not attractive enough, the tournament, with 14 countries represented among its participants, offered the unprecedented opportunity in Spain to see the top three players in the world ranking (Westwood, Donald and Kaymer) in action.
In the 1997 Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods, then number two in the world, came to Spain, but not numbers one and three, Australian Greg Norman and South African Ernie Els.
In 1999, Tiger returned to Spain, this time as world number one, but the second, David Duval, did not attend. Colin Montgomerie, number three, did play the World Golf Championshipp American Express. A year later and in the same tournament, the number one and two, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, met, but not the number three, Phil Mickelson.
Volvo also made a strong showing at the 1988 Volvo Masters, when the top four in the standings were Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam, then fourth, second, third and sixth in the world rankings.
On this second occasion that the Volvo World Match Play was held at Finca Cortesín (the previous one was in 2009) there were two Spaniards in play, both from Andalusia and both from towns very close to the tournament venue: Álvaro Quirós from Cadiz and Miguel Ángel Jiménez from Malaga. The latter fell in the first phase of the tournament, despite having defeated Schwartzel in his first match by a resounding 6&5 (he lost to Edfors and then in the final triple tiebreaker, since the three in the group had finished with two points each). For his part, Quirós reached the quarterfinals after beating Casey and Kjeldsen in the first round and Noh in the round of 16. It would finally be Kaymer, in the quarterfinals, who would put an end to the aspirations of the powerful player from Cadiz.
Poulter and Seve
“Seve, Seve, Seve, Seve, Seve, Seve, Seve, my name next to yours”. Ian Poulter’s first words with the championship trophy in his hand were to honor the memory of the Cantabrian genius, five-time winner of this tournament. Poulter earned his place alongside his idol, defeating the world number two, Luke Donald, in a very tough match, who, had he won, would have climbed to the top of the world ranking. Poulter had reached the final after having overcome the first round thanks to draws with Molinari and Lawrie, beating Westwood in the round of 16, Molinari in the quarterfinals and Colsaerts in the semifinals. For his part, Donald got through the first round by beating Moore and Fisher, defending champion, Edfos in the round of 16, Schwartzen in the quarterfinals and Kaymer in the semifinals.
The two Englishmen starred in a close final in which Donald was not fine on the greens, where he missed crucial shots. Poulter had promised his son to give 100% to give him the title of champion for his seventh birthday and so it was. The Poulter family had a lot to celebrate that Sunday afternoon.
With this victory, the eleventh on the European Tour and fourteenth international, Poulter entered the top 15 in the world and became the first player to win the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (2010) and the Volvo World Match Play Championship. It is no coincidence: the Englishman, a fighter if ever there was one, is a great specialist in this modality in which he never gives up. All the matches -except the final- were won that week in the 18th or in playoff.
Donald took the lead on 3 due to an error by Poulter, but missed on holes 4 and 5, where Poulter made two consecutive birdies to take the lead. On the sixth, Donald again balanced the match with a birdie and on the eighth he took the lead again due to an error by Poulter.
On the 9th, it was Donald who missed. Poulter scored the hole with a par and the match reached the second round tied. On the 10th, it was Donald who birdied the hole with a par to take the lead again. The two tied on the 11th with a birdie and on the 12th Ian Poulter holed an incredible putt of about 15 meters to win the hole and put pressure on his rival. Poulter was encouraged and on the 14th got another hit with an excellent approach. One up.
The 15th was decisive to decide the final. Luke Donald had two downhill putts to win the hole, but failed to sink them. These three putts were an oxygen ball for Poulter who on the next hole made another great birdie to put himself two up with two holes to play. Donald needed a birdie on the 17th, par 3, but could not get close to the flag.
A champion’s word
The winner of the Volvo World Match Play 2011 felt even more spurred to fight for the victory on the last day. And he had a compelling reason: his son. “Before I went out to play, I looked at the names engraved on the trophy and thought: ‘Today Luke is seven years old. Congratulations, Luke, it would be great to put my name on that trophy,'” Poulter said.
For the champion it was clear what had been the key to his victory: “that the putts have finally started to go in”. He said he had been frustrated for several months “because I wasn’t putting anything, and I decided to dedicate more hours of practice to see what would happen. I was starting to question things. In Augusta I played probably better than I have in my whole life without any results because I couldn’t putt. Today, on the other hand, I didn’t play as well, but I managed to sink putts when I needed to.”
He commented that he had played 108 holes that week, including the Pro-Am, “but the fatigue is more mental than physical. Physically we are all very fit. What tires you out is facing the best players in the world, it saps you. You have to be hitting good shots and making crucial putts”.
“Winning a title that Seve achieved five times,” said Poulter, “makes this victory even more special. Seve inspired my generation; as a kid, I would always go to see him at Wentworth and follow him at the Ryder Cup, I could spend hours and hours watching him hit balls on the driving range. I was lucky enough to meet him and play a couple of times with him, I was a huge Seve fan, he had a charisma that will be hard to match.”
Regarding his opponent in the final, he said: “Tonight I’m flying straight back to England with Luke Donald. We’ll open a bottle of champagne on the plane and celebrate.”
Donald’s great disappointment
For his part, Donald analyzed the decisive final match as follows: “Today I left some shots on the greens. I usually kick well in my sleep, but this afternoon I couldn’t, and it was a big disappointment. I don’t mind losing so much if I play well, but today unfortunately I didn’t, and that makes it all the more disappointing. I couldn’t bring out my best game.
About his opponent, he said: “Ian did what he had to do, but I let my chances slip away after getting 1 up on the 10th. On the 11th I should have made that putt. On the 12th Ian made a long one. On the 13th I missed another and that’s when the match turned around. And then the 3 putts on the 15th ruined it. Too many missed opportunities. Ian is a very tough competitor, he grips and resolves. He’s not an easy opponent.”
On the world ranking and his missed opportunity to reach the top of that ranking, he said, “I’m not worried about being number one in the world, because if I keep playing the way I’m playing I’ll keep knocking on the door and it will come.”
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