Final field confirmed for HSBC World Matchplay
BY iseekgolf.com | European PGA Tour | 2003 HSBC World Match Play Championship | General | 30 Sep 2003
Three of this year’s four Major winners and three Europeans will be among the 12 players who will compete for the title of HSBC World Match Play champion at Wentworth in October.
US Masters champion Mike Weir, Open champion Ben Curtis and US PGA champion Shaun Micheel have all confirmed that they will take their place in the field for the £2.3 million event, which offers a first prize of £1 million, the richest prize in world golf.
Of the 12 players who qualified automatically for Wentworth under the HSBC Major Championships Ranking system, nine will take part in the tournament. World number one Tiger Woods, US Open champion Jim Furyk and Kenny Perry are unable to compete due to prior commitments. As a result, Europe will have three representatives, with Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson, equal fifth in the US Open and equal sixth in the Open, and Germany’s Alex Cejka, fourth in the US PGA Championship, joining Open Championship runner-up Thomas Bjorn in the line-up.
Jacobson,15th in the HSBC Major Championships Ranking, and Cejka (18th) received their invitations after Phil Mickelson (13th), David Toms (16th) and Davis Love III (17th) were unable to release themselves from previous commitments.
Match play specialist Ernie Els was already assured of a place in the field as the defending champion but with a top ten finish in three Majors, would also have qualified on his performance this year. One of the biggest threats to him retaining his title is sure to come from another former champion, Vijay Singh, runner-up with Bjorn in this year’s Open Championship. The Fijian, winner of the World Match Play in 1997, currently tops the US money list following his win in the John Deere Classic, his third US PGA Tour victory of the year.
The field is completed by two Americans, Chad Campbell, runner-up in the US PGA Championship and Len Mattiace, runner-up in the US Masters; Stephen Leaney, from Australia, runner-up in the US Open; and South Africa’s Tim Clark, third in the US PGA Championship.
Richard Beck, Head of Group External Relations for HSBC, said: “When we took on the championship this year we made two significant changes. We raised the winner’s cheque to £1m, creating the richest prize in golf, and we committed to transform the field, changing the invitational format to a qualification process to include the year’s top performing players.”
“With the winners of three of the four Majors, plus the current leader of the US PGA money list and the defending champion taking part, we look forward to a fiercely competitive championship.”
HSBC, the world’s second largest bank, has signed a 10 year deal with tournament founders and promoters IMG for the World Match Play, which remains the world’s only match play event with all matches contested over 36 holes. The 2003 HSBC World Match Play Championship takes place over Wentworth’s famous West Course, from October 16-19.
Source – HSBC
