No. 2 Donald to face No. 3 Kaymer in semifinal at Volvo World Match Play

Luke Donald will meet Martin Kaymer in the semifinals of the Volvo World Match Play Championship Sunday morning, with the No. 1 spot firmly in their sights following the elimination of top-ranked Lee Westwood on Saturday.

Westwood’s surprise defeat to Ryder Cup teammate Ian Poulter at the last-16 stage on Saturday left him vulnerable at the top of the rankings, and his closest pursuers took full advantage on the Finca Cortesin course.

Second-ranked Donald struggled against Johan Edfors, needing a playoff to beat the Swedish outsider in the first knockout round, but rediscovered his consistent best to beat Masters champion Charl Schwartzel by two holes in the quarterfinals.

Kaymer, the former top-ranked player who has slipped to third, won two of the last three holes to defeat local favorite Alvaro Quiros by two holes in their quarterfinal match. The German player earlier eased past Soren Kjeldsen, 3 and 2.

Donald or Kaymer will go to No. 1 if either wins the tournament on the Costa del Sol. The two met in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona in February, with Donald emerging victorious 3 and 2.

“I suppose I have the upper hand psychologically,” said Donald, who has never been No. 1 but has been a persistent challenger at the top of the rankings in recent weeks after a consistent run of results in the United States.

Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, who is No. 108 and claimed a first European Tour title at the Volvo China Open last month, will play Poulter in the other semifinal. But all eyes will be on the Donald-Kaymer match-up, especially with the bigger prize hinging on the result.

Donald, who said he felt “drained” while he struggles with the effects of a throat infection for two weeks, is arguably the toughest match-player around -- having won his last 13 matches in that format, including those in the Ryder Cup. It has given the soft-spoken Englishman an intimidating aura out on the course.

“Being consistent throughout the bag is a useful tool in match play. I think in 18-hole matches you can wear your opponent down if it’s not too flashy, which sometimes might explain why I don’t get it done as often in stroke play,” Donald said.

Kaymer knows the in-form Donald won’t give him anything easy in the semifinal.

“He doesn’t make any mistakes,” Kaymer said. “I won with a few pars against Soren, but that won’t happen tomorrow. The way Luke’s playing is fantastic.”

Westwood had been bidding for a third straight tournament win to consolidate his position in the rankings but slipped to a one-hole loss against his Ryder Cup teammate, despite carding a 67 in stifling conditions.

He didn’t mince his words when describing his thoughts on the match and the general play of Poulter.

“You know he’s not going to hit it great but he’s going to make a lot of putts and get up and down from everywhere. He had a few breaks as well,” Westwood said. “That’s the frustrating thing about match play … sometimes it’s not reflective of how the players are playing.”

Donald would certainly agree with that, acknowledging he “escaped” against Edfors after rallying from 2 down with three holes to play.

“If it was a strokeplay event, I probably would have played my way out of it. But that’s the art of match play,” he said.

After being taken all the way by Westwood, Poulter then needed all his powers of recovery against Francesco Molinari to win the last four holes -- which included birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th -- to sneak a two-hole victory over the Italian.

Colsaerts is the tournament’s surprise package. He beat two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen and sixth-ranked Rory McIlroy in the group stages before defeating Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas 2 and 1 in the last 16 and then No.5-ranked Graeme McDowell by the same score.

McDowell had beaten McIlroy, his close friend and fellow Northern Irishman, 3 and 2 with surprising ease in the last 16.

Saturday morning results:
Alvaro Quiros beat Seung-yul Noh, 1-up   
Martin Kaymer beat Soren Kjeldsen, 3&2   
Charl Schwartzel beat Ross Fisher, 1-up   
Luke Donald beat Johan Edfors, 19 holes   
Nicolas Colsaerts beat Jhonattan Vegas, 1-up     
Graeme McDowell beat Rory McIlroy, 3&2   
Francesco Molinari beat Aaron Baddeley, 3&2     
Ian Poulter, beat Lee Westwood, 1-up

Saturday afternoon results:
Martin Kaymer beat Alvaro Quiros, 2-up 
Luke Donald beat Charl Schwartzel, 2-up
Nicolas Colsaerts beat Graeme McDowell, 2&1   
Ian Poulter beat Francesco Molinari, 2-up