Next week the Volvo World Match Play Championship will be played at Finca Cortesín (May 17 to 20), in Casares, with a record participation of Spaniards. Sergio García, Álvaro Quirós and Rafa Cabrera-Bello, are the great assets of Spanish golf to recover a tournament in which our best player of all time, Severiano Ballesteros, left a deep mark. Twenty-one years after his fifth and last victory at Wentworth and a year after his death, Seve is still the best possible inspiration to play this match-play classic. In the 80’s, the Volvo World Match Play Championship, played from 1964 in Wentworth until its transfer in 2009 to the Finca Cortesin course in Malaga, had Severiano Ballesteros as the undisputed protagonist. The first of his five victories came in 1981, when he beat Ben Crenshaw by 1 up. The following year, he defeated Sandy Lyle on the 37th hole of the final. In 1984 and 1985, the victim was Bernhard Langer whom he beat 2 & 1 on the first occasion and 6 & 5 on the second. The last victory came in 1991 at the expense of Nick Price, by 3 & 2.
The 47th edition of one of the most traditional and prestigious tournaments on the European Tour will have three Spaniards qualified for the first time. Until now, two had played in 1977, Seve and Manuel Piñero; in 1986, 1989, 1992 and 1994, Seve and José Mari Olazábal; in 1999 Sergio García and Olazábal; and in 2011, Álvaro Quirós and Miguel Ángel Jiménez. Together with Cabrera-Bello, they are the seven Spaniards who have participated in the Volvo World Match Play Championship throughout its history.
Sergio García, who is competing this week in The Players, on the American Tour, could secure his place in the Ryder Cup with a victory at Finca Cortesín. After a sensational end of the season in 2011, with two consecutive victories at the Castelló Masters and the Andalucía Masters, the player from Borriol has finished fourth at the Northern Trust, fifth in Qatar and twelfth at the Augusta Masters. This will be his fourth participation: “I am very happy to have qualified and to be able to participate in such an attractive tournament, which Seve won five times, and I didn’t want to miss it; besides, I feel very proud that it is being played in our country.
“In 2009, also at Finca Cortesín, first I played against Oliver Wilson and, to tell the truth, I wasted the opportunities he gave me; then I faced Robert Allenby and, although I hit good shots and played well, the putts didn’t go in. However, the next day, although neither Martin Kaymer nor I could reach the eighth round, I won a great match against him by 4 up, which helped me to recover my confidence.
“My best finish was in 2002, Ernie Els had to take 60 strokes to beat me in the final; I played very well but, faced with a round like that, there’s not much you can do.
“I would be thrilled to win the Volvo World Match Play Championship, not just for the title itself, but for the history and significance that comes with one of Seve’s favorite tournaments, a master and inspiration in everything, and even more so in match play.”
Rafa Cabrera-Bello makes his debut in the Volvo World Match Play Championship thanks to a brilliant start to the year by winning the title at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic last February: “I’m very excited to play the Volvo World Match Play, for me it’s the most fun, the competition elevated to the maximum. You play hole by hole, face to face with your opponent and each match is like a final. At any moment you can be eliminated and the tension is constant, you are not allowed a minute’s respite. You can’t think that you have tomorrow to recover like in a regular tournament. You have to give everything in every shot, play to the maximum of your possibilities, as Seve always did, who won this tournament five times.
“I don’t know Finca Cortesín but I have been told that it is in excellent condition, a long course, with very good greens and the most suitable for Match-Play; of the hotel… I have been told so many wonderful things that I am looking forward to seeing it.”
Alvaro Quiros needs to straighten out the season and recover positions. After his victory in the final of the Race to Dubai in 2011, the player from Guadiaro has not been able to achieve good results this year in which the main objective is to get into the Ryder Cup team: “I’m glad to have qualified to play the tournament again. It will be a good opportunity to get points for the World Ranking, the Ryder Cup and the Race to Dubai.
“It’s not going to be easy coming straight from TPC, it’s going to be a long drive and I don’t get home until Tuesday afternoon. I hope we find the course in the same condition as last year, which was magnificent.
“Regardless of the result at the Accenture, I have to admit that I feel comfortable playing match-play and I really like the group mode between those in the same group, it makes it more attractive.”
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