Tiger Woods takes the honours as Rory McIlroy fightback fails against boyhood hero in WGC Match Play
Austin Country Club expected the first ever matchplay tussle between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to be memorable for its quality, not its calamity.
But just as it seemed as if the young Irishman was on track to pull off a rousing comeback to bring down his boyhood hero, so his challenge crumbled in a few unfathomable minutes.
Having been three down after 10 holes, courtesy of a succession of missed opportunities, McIlroy valiantly fought back with birdies on the 12th and 13th to bring the deficit back to one.
And when he launched a staggering 395-yard fairway into the centre of the fairway on the par-five 16th and Woods then hit his tee-shot under the lip of a fairway bunker, it seemed inevitable that the match would soon be level. The gusts were rising and Woods was on the slide.
Yet after Woods played out sideways and knocked his third from 205 yards to 25 feet, McIlroy hit an awful second shot. Anywhere on the green would have sufficed, but he bizarrely fanned his ball into a wretched lie above a greenside bunker. From there, with his stance in the sand, McIlroy thinned it over the back and watched in horror as it ran across the green, down the slope and into an unplayable position.
McIlroy elected to go back and attempt that tricky chip again and this time he undercooked and it hopped into the bunker in front. Another swish took him to hole’s side, but even with the gimme he had taken a seven. McIlroy conceded the hole and a disbelieving Woods went two-up with two to play.
There was a glimmer for McIlroy when Woods messed up his tee-shot on the par three 17th, hitting it short and pitching up to 13 feet. McIlroy’s birdie effort grazed the cup, leaving Woods a putt for the match. As Tiger tends to, he holed it.
McIlroy was clearly frustrated and declined to talk to the media. The next time he will be seen is at Augusta in two weeks’ time as he has another crack at becoming just the sixth player in history to complete the career grand slam.
Woods survived to go into yesterday’s afternoon’s quarter-final against the Dane Lucas Bjerregaard. This has been the first time Woods has played in the Match Play since 2013 and, after all those injury-filled years in between, he was merely underlining that he is making his presence felt. There were huge crowds assembled by the 8.30am tee-time with every other match going barely noticed as everyone strained for a glimpse of golf’s two Galacticos.
“It was big for us inside the ropes, too,” Woods said. “It was a fun match for us. I know that we battled pretty hard against one another and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I was fortunate to come out on top.”
Woods admitted that his gameplan was quickly to take his young friend out of his comfort zone. McIlroy romped through the group stages only losing three holes and never once being behind.
“Exactly,” Woods said. “I’d been told he hadn't trailed in a match yet so it was nice to get that lead, especially back-to-back holes [on the fifth and the sixth]. He gave me a gift at 10, but chipped away at it with a couple of birdies of his own on 12 and 13. And 16 was tough. With the wind is blowing as hard as it is, his ball got knocked down. That's just the way it is with these hills here, the way the fronts come through. It was a difficult day for both of us.”
It was a savage morning for the three-strong English contingent, as Justin Rose, Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton were all knocked out. Rose’s was undoubtedly the most painful.
The world No 2 was two-up with after 11 against Kevin Na, the American who is ranked 60th. But Rose found the fairway bunker on par-five 12th and from there, Na reeled off four holes in succession. The 14th and 15th were won with pars, Rose hooking into the grandstand on the latter.
Rose will also skip the Texas Open, which begins in San Antonio on Thursday, as he prepares for the Masters, the major where he has finished second twice in the last four years.
There was no shame in Casey’s defeat, despite it being a 5&4 humbling. The 41-year-old not only had to battle fatigue, after last Sunday’s victory in Tampa, but also Francesco Molinari. After winning five out of five at the Ryder Cup, Molinari extended his matchplay winning run to nine and went through to face Na in the quarters. Sergio Garcia made it three Europeans in the last eight, beating South African Branden Grace on the 18th. Next for the Spaniard was Matt Kuchar, who accounted for Hatton 4&3.
