THE Volvo World Match Play Championship will return to England in the autumn for the first time since 2007 to mark the tournament's 50th anniversary.
Having been staged in Spain and Bulgaria in the intervening period organisers are bringing it back, although to the London Golf Club in Kent and not its traditional Wentworth home.
The £1.8million 2014 Championship reverts to a 16-man field, split into four groups of four, held over five days between October 15 and 19 with a first prize of £540,000. "I think it is fantastic that the Volvo World Match Play Championship will be played in England for this special anniversary," said defending champion Graeme McDowell. "I enjoyed everything about my victory last year at Thracian Cliffs in Bulgaria. It seems right though to celebrate the championship's anniversary in England, where the tournament was held for so many years."
The return of the World Match Play means England hosts three tournaments this year; the others being the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool and the PGA Championship at Wentworth.