World Matchplay Golf Tournament

History of the World Match play Tournament

The event was created the sports agent Mark McCormack in 1964 and has been running for over 45 years. It was originally designed as a event for the players that he had managed so that they could be shown to the public in a competitive event, whilst helping to raise their profiles. McCormack's client list included such sporting giants as Michael Shumaker, Pete Sampras and the worlds most famous golfer Tiger Woods.


The first ever event was held at Wentworth Golf Club in 1964 and was won by Arnold Palmer. The day consisted of a thirty six hole matches in a single day, for many years it was a twelve man event, with four seeded players being given a bye in the first round, the process has changed recently and this has now been increased to sixteen players.

This started off as an unofficial tournament but was highly regarded by players and fans alike and it had no official recognition in the Golf World Ranking system. However this was changed in 1999 when it was officially recognised by the PGA as an official money event.


Tournament Restructure

The tournament was given a major restructure in 2003 which saw an increased sponsorship deal from HSBC, and the event was renamed the HSBC Match Play Championship. The winners prize fund was increased to the highest in golf at the time, £1,000,000. By 2004 the amount of competitors was adjusted to sixteen players, all of which needed to play in eight rounds of golf to win, this would help to eliminate the advantage previously given to the seeded players.

The event failed to happen in 2008 due to the sponsors HSBC terminated their sponsorship contract five years into a ten year deal and a sponsor was unable to be located at short notice. The tournament was postponed for one year whilst a new sponsor was found.

When the new sponsor, Volvo was located they insisted upon a few changes, the first being a change in venue, the event was moved to the Finca Cortesin course in Malaga, Spain and also for the 2009 event the world match play qualification criteria has been amended slightly.

Multiple Winners
Up to the 2009 event the following players have won the World Match Play Championship on more than one occasion:

7 times: Ernie Els
5 times: Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros
3 times: Ian Woosnam and Greg Norman
2 times: Nick Faldo, Arnold Palmer and Hale Irwin



The Simple Golf Swing -Simple Golf Swing That Provides Power, Accuracy And Consistency. Click Here!

Golf Fitness Guide. Easy Tips And Techniques To Quickly Transform Your Game And Add 20 Yards To Your Drives! Click Here!

Renegade Mental Golf. New Sales Copy From John Carlton Critique - Underground Golf Psychology Click Here!

Official How To Break 80(tm) Golf Instruction Program. Best-selling EBook And Mp3 Files For All Golf Skill Levels Click Here!

Golf Book - Experienced Publisher. Newest Golf Ebook On The Market. Click Here!


Instant Slice Cure - Golf. Destroy Your Golf Slice In A Matter Of Minutes Using This Revolutionary New System! Click Here!


Easy Golf Swing System :: Click Here!


How To Master The Golf Irons! At Last You Can Master Your Iron Play. Discover The Amazing Secrets To Precision Iron Play For Todays Budding Golfers! (For All Golf Skill Levels) Click Here!


Golf Swing Eureka! Groundbreaking & New. A Golfer Reveals How He Discovered An Aspect Of The Golf Swing Known By Only 1% Of Golfers And Knocked 30 Shots Off His Round. Click Here!

Amazing Golf Mind Mental Audios. Click Here!