• World Match Play Championship, Day One

Westwood and Donald dominate in Spain

Lee Westwood was on form on Thursday © Getty Images

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World No. 1 Lee Westwood underlined his status with an emphatic 6&5 victory over Anders Hansen on the first day of the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain.

Westwood, who will face Aaron Baddeley in his second and final group stage match on Friday, edged into the lead against Hansen with a birdie at the fifth and never looked back - with four straight hole victories around the turn enough for him to close out the contest at the 13th.

The margin of victory should all-but ensure his passage into the knockout stages of the event.

"I hit it close throughout that run of birdies and I was always on my guard today," Westwood said afterwards.

"The less holes you can play are obviously to pay dividends down the road and down the tournament.

"You get to a point in your career where you look for places that you can gain an advantage or where you can improve.

"I wasn't as strong as I ought to have been, but now I'm a lot more powerful. I wouldn't say I'm a svelte marathon runner, but I'm fit for golf - powerful in all the right areas."

Miguel Angel Jimenez is another who can almost start planning for the weekend, after he disposed of Masters champion Charl Schwartzel by an identical scoreline, as the South African failed to find his form.

Indeed, such was the Spaniard's leisurely victory, he was able to enjoy a glass of Rioja during his post-match press conference.

The man whose collapse Schwartzel benefitted from at Augusta National, Rory McIlroy, narrowly edged an evenly-matched game against Retief Goosen, chipping in at the last to confirm a one-up victory in a contest that saw just seven holes halved - three of them at the death.

There was disappointment for Paul Casey, however, as the big-hitting Englishman found himself out-gunned by home favourite Alvaro Quiros, who pounded his way around the Finca Cortesin golf course on the way to a 3&1 triumph over one of the players heavily fancied for success before the tournament began.

Fortunately Luke Donald had no such troubles, the world No. 2 beating Ryan Moore - the only American to make the trip for the event - with relative ease, holing a 40-foot birdie putt on the 15th green to clinch a 4&3 success.

Graeme McDowell was also on song, overcoming a few rocky patches to finish strongly and see off 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen 3&1.

Elsewhere, the story was not quite the same for Ian Poulter, who had to fight his way back after being three down after three holes to secure a half against Francesco Molinari.

Both players will face Paul Lawrie on Friday, knowing that they need to win to book their place in the last 16.

Ross Fisher, Jhonattan Vegas, Seung-yul Noh, Nicolas Colsaerts, Soren Kjeldsen and Johan Edfors will also get their event underway tomorrow, playing both their group opponents on what promises to be an exhausting day's play.

In the final match of the day to finish, Martin Kaymer completed a successful day for the world's three top-ranked players, coming from behind against the wily YE Yang thanks to a number of errors from the South Korean on the back nine, eventually winning 2&1.

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