Tiger Beats Cantlay, Advances to Round of 16 Match vs. McIlroy
Steve DiMeglio, author for Golfweek
AUSTIN, Texas – The dream match of titanic proportions became a reality Friday as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy each advanced out of pool play in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Now the heavyweights meet in the knockout round in an oversized ring otherwise known as Austin Country Club. The bell rings at 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday.
“That’s going to be a lot of fun,” Woods said after his must-win, 4-and-2 victory against Patrick Cantlay allowed him to advance when Brandt Snedeker lost his match. “And I’m sure both of us will be ready for it.”
McIlroy has looked ready for everything this week as he moved to 3-0-0 with his 4-and-2 win against Matthew Fitzpatrick. McIlroy hasn’t finished worse than a tie for sixth in six starts this year and won The Players Championship two weeks ago.
“I’m excited for it,” McIlroy said. “I’m going to have to go out there and play my own game and not really look at what he does. Maybe towards the end of the match somewhere I’m going to have to respond to some of the shots he plays or some of the putts he holes. But it’s going to be a great match.”
Woods and McIlroy haven’t faced each other in a competitive match-play tournament. In stroke-play events, Woods holds a 9-6-3 advantage in the 18 rounds where they’ve been grouped on the PGA Tour, and has a 3-2 advantage when playing together on the European Tour…
