History of the World Matchplay Tournament
The world match play golf tournament was founded by Mark McCormack in 1964 and is now celebrating its 45th years. It was originally a showcase event for the players that he managed. Up until his death in 2003 Mark McCormack was known as one of the most powerful men in the world of sport, he managed clients such as Michael Shumaker, Pete Sampras and Tiger Woods.
The first event was held at Wentworth in 1964 and was won by McCormack's first ever client, Arnold Palmer. The event consists of 36-hole matches played 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 world match play qualification process has changed recently and this has now been increased to sixteen players.
The match play championship originally was an unofficial tournament although highly regarded by players and fans alike it had no official bearing on the Golf World Ranking system, this changed in 1999 when it became officially recognised by golf’s governing body as an official money event.
In 2003, the tournament was given a major overhaul, an increased sponsorship deal was secured from one of the worlds largest banks, HSBC, and the winners prize fund was increased to the highest in golf at the time, £1,000,000. In 2004, the field was increased to sixteen players, all of whom need to play eight rounds of golf to win, to eliminate the advantage previously given to seeds. A qualifying system based primarily on performances in the four majors, replaced the invitations of the past. World ranking points were allocated to the event. For the 2009 event the world match play qualification criteria has been amended slightly.
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
This makes Ernie Els the favourite for world match play betting odds based on his form on this event and a good place to make use of your match play free golf bets.
