Golf

Rory McIlroy wins World Match Play in San Francisco

World number one beats American Gary Woodland to take the €1.4m jackpot

Rory McIlroy shakes hands with Gary Woodland on the 16th hole green after winning their championship match. Photograph: Photograph: Christian Petersen/Getty Image
Rory McIlroy shakes hands with Gary Woodland on the 16th hole green after winning their championship match. Photograph: Photograph: Christian Petersen/Getty Image
Sun May 03 2015 - 23:42

Kerching! On the day before his 26th birthday, world number one Rory McIlroy ruled the roost in the WGC-Cadillac Matchplay Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco as the Northern Irishman scooped the $1.57m (€1.4m) jackpot on offer with an imperious 4 and 2 win over American Gary Woodland in the final.

Missing out on a ringside seat at the Mayweather-Pacquiao title bout was the only part of the jigsaw that failed to slot into place for McIlroy over the weekend but the golfer more than made amends with a long day on the golf course that confirmed his status as the world’s top player.

Having completed some unfinished business to defeat Paul Casey in the quarter-final, he then saw off Jim Furyk in the semi-final before outplaying the big-hitting Woodland.

McIlroy had needed a birdie-eagle finish over the final two holes to convert a one-hole deficit into a one-hole semi-final victory over Furyk, but that proved to be the toughest part of his day’s work as he shifted up a gear against Woodland in a mainly one-sided final that finished on the 16th green.

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Setbacks

Although suffering a couple of three-putts in his opening three holes of the final, those setbacks seemed to kick McIlroy into life as he grabbed the final by the scruff of the neck.

He went one-up on the fourth after Woodland pulled his drive left, which proved to be the catalyst for a run that saw McIlroy go on a run of birdie-birdie-birdie with successive putts of four, 35 and 18 feet on the fifth, sixth and seventh to move four-up and very much in control of his own destiny.

But Woodland fought back, winning the 11th and 12th holes – after McIlroy hit loose approach shots – to reduce the deficit to two holes.

McIlroy then had a let-off on the par three 13th where he suffered a bogey after hitting an eight-iron into thick greenside rough only for Woodland to miss a three-footer also. It was a real momentum killer for the American, and was aggravated by his three-putting for bogey on the 14th which enabled McIlroy to reclaim a three hole lead and move onwards to a second career WGC title to add to the Bridgestone Invitational he claimed last August.

In the third-fourth place play-off, Danny Willett defeated Furyk by 3 and 2 which enabled the Englishman – 49th in the world rankings going into the tournament – to claim a PGA Tour card.