McIlroy Soars at Match Play Championship

Rory McIlroy cemented his status as the top-ranked player in golf on Sunday. After his birdie on the 22nd hole beat Paul Casey early in the morning to take him into the semifinals, the 25-year-old Northern Irishman edged Jim Furyk 1-up and then rolled past Gary Woodlands 4 and 2 in the Championship Match to win the $9.25 million WGC-Match Play at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

His match with the 44-year-old Furyk was a tense back-and-forth affair, with each taking 1-up leads before it went all-square at the par-3 13th thanks to a Furyk birdie. Both players parred the 14th, and then Furyk birdied the par-4 15th for a 1-up edge.

Both players birdied the par-4 16th, keeping the match at 1-up in favor of Furyk, before McIlroy birdied the par-3 17th to draw even. McIlroy won the semifinal on the par-5 closing hole in dramatic fashion, sinking a 40-foot putt for eagle to win 1-up.

Woodland won his semifinal more perfunctorily, beating England's Danny Willett 3 and 2 The 30-year-old Kansan overcame a 2-down lead by Willett thanks to three straight birdies on Nos. 5-7, drawing all-square, before forging a 1-up lead on the par-4 eighth after a Willett bogey.

Woodland never relented, taking advantage of a Willett bogey on the 14th to go 2-up and then closing out the match with a birdie on the 16th.

Woodland wasn't as consistent in the 18-hole final, carding three bogeys (two of which McIlroy bogeyed) on Nos. 2-4 to go 1-down and he never did recover.

McIlroy reeled off birdies on Nos. 5-7 to make the turn with a 4-up advantage. Though a McIlroy bogey at the par-4 11th and a Woodland birdie on the 12th reduced McIlroy's lead to 2-up, two Woodland bogeys on 13 and 14 gave the Ulsterman a 3-up lead entering the 16th, which Woodland ended up conceding to give McIlroy the 4 and 2 win.

McIlroy is only the second top seed to win the Match Play Championship. He joins Tiger Woods, who won the title as a top seed in 2003, 04 and '08.

The victory gave McIlroy - who won two of the four majors in 2014 - his second WGC title; he also won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last year.

At greenside, McIlroy said of his most recent win: "Really proud of myself. I showed a lot of character early in the tournament. I played really solid golf. I've got a lot of confidence in match play. Obviously delighted with my second WGC title."

In the Consolation Match, Willett beat Furyk 3 and 2 to end up in third place in the tournament.

For complete match details, visit http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/content/worldgolfchampionships/cadillac-match-play/livescoring.html#110.

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