Volvo World Match Play moves to The London Club

Volvo, IMG and the European Tour have confirmed that the 2014 Volvo World Match Play Championship will be played on the International Course at the London Golf Club in Kent from 15 to 19 October. The 2014 Championship will revert to a 16 man field played over five days starting on Wednesday and offer a prize fund of €2.25m with a first prize of €650,000.

The Championship started in 1964 by Mark McCormack and IMG has been organised together with Volvo since 2009. It has evolved considerably since moving from Wentworth in 2009, successfully securing a world-class field by qualification on merit and revising the format. Last year the Championship was the first full European Tour event to be played in Bulgaria at Thracian Cliffs with the three previous events held at Finca Cortesín in Spain.

George O’Grady CBE, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said, “The International Course will provide a fitting match play test for the world’s best – led by our reigning Race to Dubai champion Henrik Stenson and defending champion Graeme McDowell – and we are delighted that another venue from our European Tour Destinations portfolio now features on the 2014 schedule. We thank our partners Volvo and IMG for their continued support and everyone at the London Golf Club for their hard work and commitment to this year’s Championship.”

Picture shows left to right: Charles Fairweather, Chairman of London Golf Club, George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, Per Ericsson, President of Volvo Event Management and Guy Kinnings, Global Head of Golf of IMG