Luiten & Dubuisson Get Second Wins in Volvo World Match Play Championship


The Netherlands' Joost Luiten upended France's Alexander Levy 4 and 3 and Frenchman Victor Dubuisson beat Ireland's Shane Lowry 3 and 2 in the Volvo World Match Play Championship at London Golf Club.

With each victory worth two points, Luiten and Dubuisson are the only players in the 16-man field with four points.

Dubuisson came to the world's attention earlier this year in the WGC-Match Play Championship in Arizona, where he finished second to Jason Day following several tight matches - and miraculous recoveries - to qualify for the 36-hole final.

The 24-year-old from Cannes further showed his match-play skills when he went 2-0-1 in last month's Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, helping the Europeans beat the Americans for the third straight time in the biennial competition.

On Day 2 of the World Match Play, Dubuisson forged a 4-up lead through 12 holes and held on from there to close out his match with Lowry on the 16th hole. Luiten recorded seven birdies - including three in a row on Nos. 9-11 to grab a 4-up lead on Levy - and won on the 15th.

In other matches, defending champion Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland fell to Mikko Ilonen 2 and 1. McDowell never had the lead against the Finn, who carded seven birdies Thursday.

"I'm disappointed to lose today, but Mikko was incredibly solid," McDowell said. "I felt like I played the best golf the first five holes but he putted better and that was the difference."

"I did tell people yesterday that I think I have a good chance winning this match," Ilonen said. "I knew I needed to get off to a fast start. I knew Graeme was going to come at me hard, and he did. I needed to avoid mistakes and when I get a good birdie chance I need to make it like I did on 17."

McDowell will next face Luiten, who knows what he's up against in the gritty Ulsterman. "It's a tough one, he's one of the best match players I think at the moment," said Luiten. "But it's going to be a fun day. I'm just going to go out there and try to make some birdies and hopefully I can beat him."

Pablo Larrazábal chipped in on the final hole to edge Scotland's Stephen Gallacher 1-up; with two points each, the Spaniard and Lowry will pair off Friday in a loser-out match.

"The ball was sitting great," Larrazabal said of his heroics on the 18th. "I thought I had the chance to putt it close and to make five and to put the pressure on Stevie - Stevie had a good lie -but I holed it and it went in, happy days."

The top seed in the tournament, Henrik Stenson, overcame a deficit to Italy's Francesco Molinari thanks to birdies on the last three holes for a 2 and 1 win. On Friday, the tall Swede plays Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, who edged South Africa's George Coetzee by a 2 and 1 margin.

"I felt like I was playing better and better as the round went on," Stenson told reporters. "I just figured (Wednesday) I didn't take my chances against George when I had them. Today I felt I needed to take them and rolled some nice putts in to close out the match, so that was very satisfying."

After losing to England's Paul Casey Wednesday, Welshman Jamie Donaldson earned two points on Day 2 with a 3 and 2 victory over Sweden's Jonas Blixt. "Today was important to get off to a good start," Donaldson said. "I played well for most of the day and (it is) nice to come up with the victory."

The only American in the field, Patrick Reed, stayed alive by getting past Casey 2 and 1. The 24-year-old Texan will play Donaldson Friday.

For complete scoring details, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014082/leaderboard/index.html.