| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 12–14 October 1972 |
| Location | Virginia Water, Surrey, England |
| Course(s) | West Course, Wentworth |
| Format | Match play – 36 holes |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 74 |
| Length | 6,997 yards (6,398 m) |
| Field | 8 players |
| Prize fund | £25,000 |
| Winner's share | £8,500 |
| Champion | |
 Tom Weiskopf | |
| def. Lee Trevino 4 & 3 | |
The 1972 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship was the ninth World Match Play Championship. It was played from Thursday 12 to Saturday 14 October on the West Course at Wentworth. Eight players competed in a straight knock-out competition, with each match contested over 36 holes. The champion received £8,500 out of a total prize fund of £25,000. In the final, Tom Weiskopf beat Lee Trevino 4 & 3 to win the championship.
Grier Jones was a surprise invitee for the event. Relatively unknown in Europe, he had won two events on the 1972 PGA Tour and runner-up in two others.[1] He met Tony Jacklin in the first round and lost 7 & 6.[2]
Peter Oosterhuis beat defending champion Gary Player in the first round. Oosterhuis won four of the first five holes and went 5 up after an eagle at the 12th. Player won three of the remaining holes to go to lunch only two holes down and had levelled the match by the 13th hole of the afternoon round. Oosterhuis holed a 30-foot putt at the 16th and eventually won by one hole.[2]
Course
Source:[2]
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 476 | 157 | 457 | 497 | 192 | 347 | 403 | 400 | 460 | 3,389 | 190 | 408 | 480 | 437 | 183 | 480 | 380 | 555 | 495 | 3,608 | 6,997 |
| Par | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 74 |
Scores
| Quarter-finals 12 October | Semi-finals 13 October | Final 14 October | |||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Gary Player
| |||||||||||
 Peter Oosterhuis
| 1 up | ||||||||||
| Peter Oosterhuis
| |||||||||||
| Tom Weiskopf
| 4 & 3 | ||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} David Graham
| |||||||||||
| Tom Weiskopf
| 3 & 2 | ||||||||||
| Tom Weiskopf
| 4 & 3 | ||||||||||
| Lee Trevino
| |||||||||||
| Lee Trevino
| 2 & 1 | ||||||||||
| Doug Sanders
| |||||||||||
| Lee Trevino
| 1 up | ||||||||||
| Tony Jacklin
| |||||||||||
| Tony Jacklin
| 7 & 6 | ||||||||||
| Grier Jones
| |||||||||||
Prize money
The winner received £8,500, the runner-up £4,500, the losing semi-finalists £3,000 and the first round losers £1,500, making a total prize fund of £25,000.
References
- ↑ "Monday boy who reached pay day". The Times, Wednesday, 11 October 1972; pg. 13; Issue 58602.
- 1 2 3 4 "Oosterhuis survives pressures to win". The Times, Friday, 13 October 1972; pg. 12; Issue 58604.
- ↑ "Out of the race and into history". The Times, Saturday, 14 October 1972; pg. 19; Issue 58605.
- ↑ "Weiskopf at his best in seven years". The Times, Monday, 16 October 1972; pg. 8; Issue 58606.