Wednesday 15 October 2014 21:52, UK
Defending champion Graeme McDowell started his bid for back-to-back titles at the Volvo World Matchplay Championship with a 3&2 win over Alexander Levy at the London Club.
In-form Frenchman Levy won the Portugal Masters after it was cut short on Sunday, but he was never in the match with Ryder Cup star McDowell – who birdied four of his first six holes.
McDowell led from the front at Gleneagles as he came from three down to beat Jordan Spieth in the first Sunday singles match, and he was again out first at the London Club.
Levy found himself four down after ten holes, and although a birdie at the 13th kept his slim hopes alive, McDowell made no mistake in closing out the match by halving the 16th.
It gives McDowell the perfect start to the defence of his crown by taking two points for an opening victor. He now plays Mikko Ilonen on day two with the Finn losing his opening match 1up to Joost Luiten.
"There are no easy matches and you can't take anyone lightly, especially a guy who won last week, so I'm very happy to get the victory," McDowell said. "I was hot on the greens and he was cold and that was the difference.
"It's important to control your own destiny in the group stages, you don't want to be relying on other people and if I can win tomorrow I will be in a great position."
George Coetzee scrambled for an up-and-down off the 18th green to grab a half against world No 5 and top seed in the competition Henrik Stenson in a high-quality contest.
Neither play made a bogey in the round but Stenson held the advantage as he made the par-five 18th green in two while Coetzee missed the green to the right.
However, Stenson missed a five-foot putt for birdie and his three-putt gave Coetzee the chance to half the match, which he took by sinking from a similar length to grab a point.
Shane Lowry went round in seven-under-par to give Ryder Cup man Stephen Gallacher no chance as he fell to a 3&2 defeat in the opening match of the Gabrielsson group.
Fellow Team Europe man Victor Dubuisson enjoyed a better start as the Frenchman maintained his Gleneagles form with a 3&3 victory over Pablo Larrazabal.
The in-form duo of Lowry and Dubuisson meet in Thursday’s second slate of matches, with Gallacher and Larrazabal squaring off in search of a first victory.
American Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed lost on his return to the UK as he had no answer for Jonas Blixt, with the Swede coming away with a 2&1 victory in their McCormack group meeting.
"It was one of those days where both of us played pretty solid but at the end of the day I didn't really make anything," Reed said. "I missed a short one on six and it seemed like that was the story of the day, just missing putts left and right."
Reed next plays Paul Casey, who survived a remarkable Jamie Donaldson comeback to beat the Welshman 2up. Donaldson came from three down to square the match in the space of four holes, but Casey just edged back in front to take the two points.
"I feel great with that," said Casey. "Jamie's probably fatigued coming off the back of all the golf he's played recently but his performance at the Ryder Cup illustrates how good a golfer he is.
"I knew it was going to be tricky out there and I played some wonderful stuff."
