GMAC and Garcia Meet in Volvo

Spain's Sergio Garcia reached the last eight of the Volvo World Match Play Championship with a comfortable 4 and 3 victory over 21 year old Tom Lewis.

The Spaniard will now play Graeme McDowell in the quarter-finals afterhe beat Richard Finch 3 and 2.

Afterwards the former US Open Champion said: “Sergio is a tough player and obviously knows his way around some Spanish golf courses. 

“You want to play against the best players and like I say it really doesn't make a huge amount of difference what name you're going to play because all of these guys are capable of shooting low numbers and I've just got to go and try and beat them. 

“I feel like I'm playing well and getting the hang of this golf course as the days go on. I’m looking forward to the game.”

Lewis, who led The Open Championship as an amateur last July and then captured the Portugal Masters in only his third start as a professional, bogeyed the long third, could not match his opponent's birdie at the 334 yard next and then conceded the next.

It was uphill from then on and Garcia sealed his win by holing a 20 footer on the 15th and seeing Lewis miss from 12.

Clarke Fails at Volvo in Finca Cortesin

Darren Clarke lost by two holes to England’s Robert Rock on Friday and faced Justin Rose in the afternoon at Finca Cortesin in Casares to remain in the Volvo World Match Play. 

Rock was two holes up with two to play but Clarke birdied the 17th from five feet to stay alive in the game. However, Clarke failed to get up and down from sand on the last to lose the match. It left the Northern Irishman needing to beat Rose just to get into a play-off between the three of them to decide which two carry on in the event.

Rose crushed Rock 7&6 when they met earlier in the event.

However Justin Rose sealed Clarke's fate in the afternoon 6 & 4.

In contrast Graeme McDowell qualified for the last 16 of the World Match Play Championship before they even hit a ball on Friday.

Having grabbed a narrow victory over Robert Karlsson on Thursday, McDowell saw the Swede earn only a half with Jbe Kruger, guaranteeing a spot in the next round.

McDowell then beat Kruger 4 & 3.

GMAC Wins on Final Stretch

Graeme McDowell trailed entering the closing stretch, and birdied the 16th, got up and down from a bunker at the short 17th and then almost eagled the 568-yard last - leaving Karlsson, in sand for two, needing to hole from eight feet for a half. Which Karlsson missed.

“One down with three to play against a great player, I feel very fortunate,” said the Northern Irishman, who now meets South African Jbe Kruger.

Brandt Snedeker began his opening group game with just 10 clubs in his bag and yet won the first three holes before more arrived.

Snedeker was forced to seek replacements when his usual set went missing en route from Florida on Monday. They eventually showed up at Malaga Airport this morning, then were driven to Finca Cortesin an hour away and taken to him on the fourth tee.

Under the rules he was allowed only to add four to those he had started with, but was so happy with the driver he had borrowed from Australian John Senden and the putter he had chosen in the pro shop that he continued with them.

“The driver worked really well, so I think it’s mine now and no longer his,” said the three-time PGA Tour winner, who hopes to use this week to impress American Ryder Cup captain Davis Love.

“It was kind of a weird day to say the least. I didn’t like my chances at all actually. I knew Thomas was a world-class player and it was pretty windy, so I knew it favoured him.”

Bjorn, though, has been suffering from a virus lately that forced him out of the last two events in America, and he could never recover from bogeying the opening three holes, falling five down after six and losing 5&4.

It was not the biggest defeat of the day, however. Robert Rock crashed 7&6 to fellow Englishman Justin Rose, who birdied the first five holes, winning four of them, and later added two more.

The week is not yet over for Bjorn, Rock, Karlsson and the other four who lost on the opening day - Sweden’s Peter Hanson, Senden, Alvaro Quiros and top seed Martin Kaymer - under the revised format of the famous event.

They could yet make it through to the last 16 if they win their second games. Ian Poulter won the title last year after failing to win either of his group matches - he halved them both.

Second seed Rose said: “The game was good, I adjusted to the speed of the greens quickly and Robert didn’t.”

To guarantee himself a place in the knock-out stages Rose now needs only a half against British Open champion Darren Clarke, the lowest-ranked player in the group after his slide to 70th in the world.

The same applies to Poulter against Tom Lewis, the 21-year-old who led the Open as an amateur last July and then won the Portugal Masters on only his third professional start.

Scot Paul Lawrie started his 500th European Tour event with a 2&1 victory over the higher-ranked Hanson, winning the 16th with a par to go one-up and then making birdie from five feet on the next after his six-iron tee shots kicked off the bank right of the green.

Lawrie and Hanson now have to play Colombian Camilo Villegas, while Kaymer lost 3&2 to Dubai Desert Classic winner Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Spain’s other winner was Sergio Garcia, who came from behind to beat compatriot Quiros 2&1.

There was also one halved game, last year’s Masters champion Charl Schwartzel making birdie on the last to square things against last year’s surprise semi-finalist Nicolas Colsaerts.

Keegan Reflects on His Golfing Year

Keegan Bradley is now a respected major champion but this time last year he was battling to retain his US Tour card.

This week he is back where his dramatic rise all began, at the Byron Nelson Championship in Texas.

"I went from an unknown rookie trying to keep his card to winning a PGA Tour event and locking up my future a little bit," said the 25-year-old as he reflected on his play-off victory over Ryan Palmer at Las Colinas 12 months ago.

"This tournament might have set up my whole career. People don't realise what the stress level is of a rookie on the PGA Tour, trying to keep your card.

"I played on the Hooters Tour and thinking about going back is scary. And to know I was on the (PGA) tour for at least two-and-a-half more years was huge."

Bradley's career then took a monumental leap when, playing in his very first major, he captured the USPGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.

"At the PGA I didn't have that pressure of having to win my first tournament or having to worry about making enough money to keep my card, stuff like that, where rookies have to think about that," said the 25-year-old.

Can't believe it

"Sometimes I will be sitting around and I will realise that I won the PGA and start laughing, by myself, like I can't believe it.

"It seriously happens all the time. I keep the trophy on my mantle(piece) in front of my TV in my room, and I'll just be watching TV and I'll look over at it and start laughing, because it seems so bizarre that's the trophy, it's in my room.

"Definitely sometimes I have to ask myself, 'Is this really real?'.

"But I've been wanting to do that my whole life, and it's cool to be living it. But I have so much further to go, and that's what I'm happy about. I want to be out here for a long time and be one of the best players, so I have a lot to work for."

Bradley's recent form hasn't been great but he's relishing the return to TPC Las Colinas.

"I go into it knowing that I love this course, it suits my eye well," he said. "I'm looking to win tournaments, so this is a great opportunity for me to contend this week."

One likely challenger is Matt Kuchar, coming off his victory at the Players Championship, golf's richest event, at Sawgrass on Sunday.

Kuchar, 33, shot up 11 places to fifth in the world rankings on Monday and has not discounted a charge to number one.

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy holds the top spot ahead of England's Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, followed by Americans Bubba Watson and Kuchar.

Exciting time

"I think it's an exciting time in the game of golf right now in that there is the possibility to become that number one player in the world," Kuchar said.

"For a long time it seemed like Tiger Woods had a stronghold on the position and that number two was the thing you had to play for.

"Even if Tiger Woods took a year off, it seemed like he would still hold that position. So it's exciting to have movement at that number one shot, to have a shot at being the best.

"I think it's one of the things we all strive for, to be the best of the best, to actually be number one in the world would be an honour."

Kuchar heads out in a group with Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington, while Bradley plays alongside Rory Sabbatini and Jason Day.

The world's top four are absent, as is Woods, but there is plenty of big-name appeal, not least in the group consisting of Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Ernie Els.

Walton Plays Senior PGA Championship

Bernhard Langer recovered from 2011 thumb surgery and making his impact felt again in senior golf and heads a list of 36 international players, representing 18 countries, in the 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, from May 24 - 27 at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Begun in 1937, the Senior PGA Championship has featured six international Champions combining for nine titles. Denis Watson, a native of Zimbabwe, who triumphed in 2007, was the last international-born Champion of the most historic and prestigious event in senior golf.

Langer, 54, missed the Senior PGA Championship a year ago after a freak left-thumb injury suffered in an off-season biking accident. That mishap delayed his return to play until mid-June.

Prior to the injury, Langer had finished among the top 25 in three consecutive Senior PGA Championships, including a runner-up finish in 2008. This year, he has posted six top-10 finishes, including two runner-up and one third-place performance.

The 2012 Senior PGA Championship international roster includes England's Gary Wolstenholme, winner of last week's Mallorca Senior Open, the season-opening event on the European Senior Tour. He will make his second Championship appearance. England's Paul Wesselingh, who makes his debut in the Senior PGA Championship, is a former club professional and a six-time PGA Cup standout. He shared runner-up honors in Mallorca in his European Senior Tour debut.

The complete international roster competing at the 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid: Gordon Brand Jr. (Scotland); Roger Chapman (England); Trevor Dodds (Namibia); Marc Farry (France); Peter Fowler (Australia); Angel Franco (Paraguay); David Frost (South Africa); Michael Harwood (Australia); Mark James (England); Jong-Duck Kim (South Korea); Barry Lane (England); Bernhard Langer (Germany); Chien-Soon Lu (Taiwan); Sandy Lyle (Scotland); Graham Marsh (Australia); Miguel Angel Martin (Spain); Mark McNulty (Zimbabwe); Francisco Minoza (Philippines); Mark Mouland (England); Kiyoshi Murota (Japan); Andrew Oldcorn (Scotland); Juan Quiros (Spain); Eduardo Romero (Argentina); Boonchu Ruangkit (Thailand); David Russell (Scotland); Jim Rutledge (Canada); Peter Seniors (Australia); Nobuo Serizawa (Japan); Andrew Sherborne (England); Ikuo Shirahama (Japan); Rod Spittle (Canada); Philip Walton (Ireland); Denis Watson (Zimbabwe); Paul Wesselingh (England); Christopher Williams (South Africa); and Gary Wolstenholme (England).

Past international Senior PGA Champions include: Jock Hutchison (Scotland), 1937, '47; Fred McLeod (Scotland), 1938; Roberto De Vicenzo (Argentina), 1974; Peter Thomson (Australia), 1984; Gary Player (South Africa) 1986, '88, '90; Denis Watson (Zimbabwe), 2007.

The 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid welcomes back defending Champion Tom Watson, who also captured the Alfred S. Bourne Trophy in 2001. He is joined by seven other past Champions: Michael Allen (2009); Jay Haas (2006, '08), Denis Watson; Mike Reid (2005); Hale Irwin (1996, '97, '98, 2004); Tom Lehman (2010); and Tom Wargo (1993).

Joining Watson are seven other past Senior PGA Champions: Tom Lehman (2010), Michael Allen (2009), Jay Haas (2006, '08), Denis Watson (2007), Mike Reid (2005), Hale Irwin (1996, '97, '98, 2004), and Tom Wargo (1993).

The Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid is the oldest event on the Champions Tour, originating in 1937 at Augusta National Golf Club at the invitation of the legendary amateur Bobby Jones.