McDowell beaten at London Golf Club
Defending champion Graeme McDowell must win his final pool match if he is to stand any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the World Match Play Championship.
McDowell fell to Finn Mikko Ilonen 2&1 on day two at the London Golf Club – just his third defeat in 18 matches in the event – but he did not go down without a fight.
Ilonen was four holes to the good through 10 holes before McDowell carded birdies at 11, 13 and 15 to get within one. But Ilonen, the Irish Open champion, birdied the 17th to seal the victory.
“It feels very good to beat a player of Graeme’s quality,” Ilonen said.
In the other match in the group, Joost Luiten eased to a 4&3 victory over last week’s Portugal Open champion Alexander Levy, knocking the Frenchman out of the competition.
Henrik Stenson, the top seed in the 16-man event, produced a startling finish of eagle-birdie-birdie to overcome Francesco Molinari 2&1. Molinari was seven-under-par, but Stenson went eight-under over the last nine holes and did not lead the match until his penultimate birdie on 16.
There was a measure of revenge for Stenson, after Molinari knocked him out of the event a year ago in Bulgaria.
“I gave Francesco a couple of early gifts being three down after four. That really was not in the plan but I didn’t give up,” Stenson said.
“To be eight-under from nine onwards meant for another good day. Considering I came here not having touched a golf club for nearly two weeks, I will take that.”
In the group’s other match, last year’s runner-up Thongchai Jaidee fell 2&1 to George Coetzee.
Ryder Cup player Stephen Gallacher is out after Pablo Larrazabal holed a chip shot from the rough for birdie at the last hole to win by a single hole.
Larrazabal birdied the opening two holes to race ahead, but Gallacher then birdied the third, fifth and sixth holes to take the lead. The duo halved the next five holes before Larrazabal won the 13th and claimed victory at the last.
Pool leader Victor Dubuisson is the only player guaranteed a spot in the last eight after beating Shane Lowry 3&2 in a match in which he was never behind.
Jamie Donaldson, who earned the point that confirmed Europe’s glory at the Ryder Cup two weeks ago, thrashed US-based Swede Jonas Blixt 4&3, while Gleneagles villain Patrick Reed won his first match in the event, 2&1 over 2006 champion Paul Casey.
The final round of pool matches on Friday will determine the quarter-finalists.
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