Big names fall at Wentworth
The West Course at Wentworth continued to throw up surprises during the World Match Play Championship, none more so than the opening day on Thursday, with the slaying of the Tiger, as American counterpart, Shaun Micheel, bellied his official world golf ranking of seventy seventh, to beat the World number one,
Woods, by 4 & 3. With the Big Easy, Ernie Els, falling at the first hurdle to Angel Cabrera by 2 & 1, and World number two, Jim Furyk of the U.S.A. getting first day nerves with a 4 & 3 defeat to Robert Karlsson, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, was the only fans favourite, left in the field. But it was fellow Ryder Cup compatriot, Paul Casey, who was taking the tournament by storm, first blowing away Retief Goosen 6 & 4, and then Mike Weir by 5 & 3, to set up a semi final with Montgomerie, who battled back from adversity to beat Michael Campbell, on the final hole in the quarter finals. It was misery for Monty, as he was comprehensively beaten 6 & 5 by Casey , to see a battle of the under dogs going into Sunday’s final, as Casey goes head to head with Micheel, after the American saw off the challenge of Sweden’s Karlsson, with a close shave victory on the final hole, in the other semi final. With the winner assured of one million pounds and four hundred thousand for the runner up, there was a lot at stake for both players and a win for Casey had the added bonus of putting him top of the order of merit, and a major boost for the Ryder Cup. Rising to the challenge, Casey carded his biggest win as a tournament professional, by comprehensively beating Micheel 10 & 8 in the final, to scoop golf's biggest money winning prize.
“That is still the goal for the remaining tournaments left so far this year. Obviously next week is very important but yeah, you still didn’t tell me how much it counts. But there’s still a lot to play for. The three events I play after this one are big money events, the AMEX, Dunhill and Volvo Masters,” added Casey.
Although it would be hard for Casey to match the prize money on offer at the World Match Play Championship, as he continued:
“Well, I’ve never had the opportunity to play for that much money before, so I don’t know whether that will play on the mind tomorrow or not. I guess I can start thinking about it. Where else can we win a million pounds ? Unless we get on ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.’ And I can’t answer those questions, so this is the best opportunity I’ve got.”
After three big wins already this week, Casey was quick to explain the key to his successes, as he concluded:
“I’ve holed a lot of key or crucial putts at the right time, a few par saves which are really, sometimes, you know, better than knocking it 330 yards down the fairway. I think for example, the par I made on the first this morning won me the second hole. I don’t think Colin expected a 4 there, a bad tee shot, a bad second shot, and to walk away with a 4, I think that’s really been the key this week. I’ve stuck it out when I’ve hit poor shots and figured out a way of getting it into the hole and not trying to give my opponents anything if possible.”
Woods, by 4 & 3. With the Big Easy, Ernie Els, falling at the first hurdle to Angel Cabrera by 2 & 1, and World number two, Jim Furyk of the U.S.A. getting first day nerves with a 4 & 3 defeat to Robert Karlsson, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, was the only fans favourite, left in the field. But it was fellow Ryder Cup compatriot, Paul Casey, who was taking the tournament by storm, first blowing away Retief Goosen 6 & 4, and then Mike Weir by 5 & 3, to set up a semi final with Montgomerie, who battled back from adversity to beat Michael Campbell, on the final hole in the quarter finals. It was misery for Monty, as he was comprehensively beaten 6 & 5 by Casey , to see a battle of the under dogs going into Sunday’s final, as Casey goes head to head with Micheel, after the American saw off the challenge of Sweden’s Karlsson, with a close shave victory on the final hole, in the other semi final. With the winner assured of one million pounds and four hundred thousand for the runner up, there was a lot at stake for both players and a win for Casey had the added bonus of putting him top of the order of merit, and a major boost for the Ryder Cup. Rising to the challenge, Casey carded his biggest win as a tournament professional, by comprehensively beating Micheel 10 & 8 in the final, to scoop golf's biggest money winning prize.
“That is still the goal for the remaining tournaments left so far this year. Obviously next week is very important but yeah, you still didn’t tell me how much it counts. But there’s still a lot to play for. The three events I play after this one are big money events, the AMEX, Dunhill and Volvo Masters,” added Casey.
Although it would be hard for Casey to match the prize money on offer at the World Match Play Championship, as he continued:
“Well, I’ve never had the opportunity to play for that much money before, so I don’t know whether that will play on the mind tomorrow or not. I guess I can start thinking about it. Where else can we win a million pounds ? Unless we get on ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.’ And I can’t answer those questions, so this is the best opportunity I’ve got.”
After three big wins already this week, Casey was quick to explain the key to his successes, as he concluded:
“I’ve holed a lot of key or crucial putts at the right time, a few par saves which are really, sometimes, you know, better than knocking it 330 yards down the fairway. I think for example, the par I made on the first this morning won me the second hole. I don’t think Colin expected a 4 there, a bad tee shot, a bad second shot, and to walk away with a 4, I think that’s really been the key this week. I’ve stuck it out when I’ve hit poor shots and figured out a way of getting it into the hole and not trying to give my opponents anything if possible.”
posted by Robert Halter at 2:49 PM
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