Golf:US Open champion Graeme McDowell will face the holder of the British Open, Louis Oosthuizen, in the group stages of the Volvo World Match Play Championship in southern Spain this week. The world number five will also be up against Jhonattan Vegas at Finca Cortesin near Marbella.
Top seed Lee Westwood will be up against Dane Anders Hansen and Australian Aaron Baddeley while Luke Donald faces holder Ross Fisher and American Ryan Moore.
The event returns to the European Tour schedule after a one-year gap and features not only five of golf’s six highest-ranked players, but also the four current major champions in Oosthuizen, McDowell, Martin Kaymer (US PGA) and Charl Schwartzwel, who captured the US Masters last month.
Under a new format the 24 players are divided into eight groups of three, with the top two in each progressing to the knockout stages on Saturday and Sunday.
The seeded draw based on world ranking positions means, for example, that Westwood could clash with Ian Poulter for a place in the quarter-finals and McDowell could take on his Ryder Cup partner Rory McIlroy at the same point.
In another change there could be play-offs to see which players go through from their groups if they finish level on points after their two games. The event also provides Donald and Kaymer will another chance to take the number one spot off Westwood.
World Match Play Draw
(1) Lee Westwood, (16) Anders Hansen, (17) Aaron Baddeley
(8) Francesco Molinari, (9) Ian Poulter, (24) Paul Lawrie
(4) Graeme McDowell, (13) Louis Oosthuizen, (20) Jhonattan Vegas
(5) Rory McIlroy, (12) Retief Goosen, (21) Nicolas Colsaerts
(2) Luke Donald, (15) Ryan Moore, (18) Ross Fisher
(7) Charl Schwartzel, (10) Miguel Angel Jimenez, (23) Johan Edfors
(3) Martin Kaymer, (14) YE Yang, (19) Noh seung-yul
(6) Paul Casey, (11) Alvaro Quiros, (22) Soren Kjeldsen
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