WGC ACCENTURE WORLD MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP:TIGER WOODS must be breathing a sigh of relief as the world watched the birth of a new superstar in Rory McIlroy.
Playing with the poise and precision of a man twice his age, the 19- year-old must surely have ended any debate over his elevated stature in the game when he crushed South Africa’s Tim Clark 4 and 3 to reach the quarter-finals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson.
The Ulster kid calculated before making the trip that he would go to fifth in the world with victory this week. But he may not be aware that he would also become the youngest winner in the history of American professional golf.
Who needs Tiger when you have a player of such natural talent to enjoy? Clark provoked a mass exodus from the press centre by the American media when he ended Woods’ comeback story with an emphatic 4 and 2 win over the world number one in Thursday’s second round.
But the 33-year-old South African had no answer against a fearless teenage opponent who blasted the ball up to 60 yards past him off the tee.
Clark didn’t make a bogey in the first two rounds as he despatched Retief Goosen and Woods with some faultless golf. But he was struggling straight away against a sensational McIlroy, who won the first with a par four when the South African was forced to chip back to the fairway after pushing his drive into the desert scrub.
The teenager’s power was a major weapon on the 7,800 yard Jack Nicklaus course and he easily topped the driving distance statistics with an average drive of 319 yards giving him a huge advantage over pint-sized Clark.
The Holywood kid reduced the 574-yard, par-five second to a 369-yard drive and a nine iron to go two up with a simple, two-putt birdie. And after halves in par at the third and fourth, he out-drove the South African by 60 yards at the fifth and then hit his approach to seven feet to extend his advantage to three holes.
Moments later he was four up, courtesy of a glorious iron shot to 14 feet at the 185 yard sixth and while Clark hit back to win the seventh with a tap-in birdie from two and a half feet, he was soon four down again.
At the par-five eighth, Clark bunkered his approach short of the green and couldn’t match McIlroy’s chip and putt birdie from the apron.
The next four holes were halved in par figures and while McIlroy hit a 371-yard drive at the par-five 13th, Clark matched his birdie by finding the green with a 258-yard fairway bunker shot to 17 feet.
Clark looked certain to win the 14th when he hit his approach to just five feet but his broomstick putter let him down and he went four down with just four to play.
It all ended at the driveable 15th, where McIlroy missed a 15 footer for the match and looked on as Clark failed to hole from just inside him to survive for another hole.
“It was nice to build an early lead,” said McIlory. “Tim obviously didn’t play as well as he did against Tiger (Woods).
“It was a fairly simple match for me after that start. My ball-striking and distance control has been excellent the last couple of days, though I have left a couple of putts out there.
“This week has just been great getting to compete against the best players in the world. They are all tough matches no matter who you play, I’m just excited to have reached the quarter-finals in my first Match Play tournament.”
McIlroy will face world number eight and 2006 champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia today with the winner of that one taking on Ernie Els or Stewart Cink in the afternoon semi-finals.
“Geoff Ogilvy is a class player but I think I can win this tournament,” said McIlroy. “You’ve got to believe you can win. I don’t know if that’s cocky but that’s the mindset you’ve got to go out with. You’ve got to say I am going to beat this guy.”
As for Els tipping him to become the next world number one, McIlroy added: “Coming from an ex number one, it’s great. But I still have a long way to go. And my main goal is to try and get into the top 10 in the world and then if I can do that, Ill try and get to number two and then Tiger comes back fit and strong.”
Els beat Luke Donald by two holes after the English star tweaked his wrist on the 17th tee and conceded the match on the 18th tee while Cink accounted for a wayward Mickelson by one hole.
After missing six months of last season following wrist surgery, Donald was one down playing the 18th but conceded after straining his wrist hitting his drive at the 17th he decided not to risk further injury.
“Maybe I am being ultra-cautious. But I will have it checked out and hopefully it is just a minor strain,” Donald said.
Mickelson was always in trouble against Cink after falling three down after four holes. The left hander levelled matters by the 13th but lost the 15th after driving into scrub on the left, drew level with winning par at the 16th, lost the 17th to a bogey five and then failed to rescue matters at the last.
THIRD ROUND
Rory McIlroy (Ire) bt Tim Clark (SA) 4 and 3
Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) v Camillo Villegas (Col)2 and 1
Ian Poulter (Eng) v Sean O’Hair (US)2dn (16)
Peter Hanson (Swe) lost to Paul Casey (Eng)3 and 2
Luke Donald (Eng) conceded to Ernie Els (SA)retired injured
Phil Mickelson (US) lost to Stewart Cink (US) 1 hole
Ross Fisher (Eng) bt Jim Furyk (US)4 and 3
Justin Leonard (US) v Oliver Wilson (Eng)all square (18)
