Paul Casey out of World Match Play Championship with round to playWritten by: Editor on 29th October 2009
 
• Paul Casey loses to Scott Strange and Anthony Kim Paul Casey lost both his matches on the opening day of the revamped, rescheduled and re-sited Volvo World Match Play Championship at the mountainous Finca Cortes course near Marbella today. The defeats ended the world No4’s interest in the competition even though he has one more qualifying match to play, leaving him with no chance of winning his group and thus reaching Saturday’s semi-finals. It was a day when results ranged from mildly surprising to genuinely shocking. As many as 11 of the 12 matches were won by the lower-ranked player, including those featuring Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy, who face almost certain elimination after suffering heavy defeats. Casey, playing his first event in 11 weeks and still suffering from the obvious effects of his now long-running rib injury, was beaten in the morning by the Australian Scott Strange and after lunch lost to Anthony Kim of the United States. After losing to Strange on the 18th green the 32-year-old Englishman, who spent the lunch break with an ice pack on his ribs, said with a sigh: “I’m physically not great and can’t swing the way I would like. Scott played well. But having said that, I gave him three holes on the front and you can’t do that against anybody in this field.” However, Casey was a lot happier at the end of the day despite losing to Kim. “This morning I was questioning whether I had come back too early,” he said. “But I don’t now. That was much better – I hit a lot of good shots.” Sergio García was in the same boat as Casey, Westwood and McIlroy after losing his matches. Westwood failed to make a birdie in succumbing by six holes to India’s Jeev Milkha Singh. McIlroy found the Masters champion, Angel Cabrera, too much to handle. Going round in an approximate five under par, the Argentinian was five up when the pair shook hands. “I made it tough for myself, but he just played too well,” said the 20-year-old Ulsterman. “The good thing is that I am still in it. I’m not packing my bags and heading home.” Perhaps the happiest man at the end of a convoluted day, exaggerated by the perverse stipulation that every match must go 18 holes, was Kim. An approximate seven under par in defeating Casey, the young American seems to be emerging from a year-long slump that made his participation here unlikely. Only when seven of his compatriots withdrew did he gain entry. “That’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” he enthused. “At last I’m making birdies and feeling confident. If I keep this up I’ll be in good shape. You never know though. As someone once said: ‘Anything can happen in match play.’”
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