WGC-Cadillac Match Play: Rory McIlroy goes 7-0 to win

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After two clutch comebacks, Rory McIlroy was able to breeze by Gary Woodland to claim the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship on Sunday at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

McIlroy dusted off Woodland 4 and 2 in the final match of a marathon event. Woodland made things interesting on the back nine with a birdie on 10 and 12 then had a very short putt on the par-3 13th to get within one hole of the world's No. 1 ranked player but was unable to convert.

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It wasn't always smooth sailing for McIlroy, who had to fight back to defeat Billy Horschel in the group stage and was forced to finish Saturday's quarterfinal match against Paul Casey Sunday morning after play was suspended due to darkness.

“I’m really proud of the character I showed coming back from some deficits," McIlroy told NBC. "I played really solid golf, and I'm in a nice little run in match play right now."

That's an understatement.

McIlroy has now won his last eight match play singles dating back to last year's 5&4 demolition of Rickie Fowler in the Ryder Cup. He also raised his record to 18-6 in this event after a 7-0 week.

This was the first year the tournament changed its format to a 16 four-man group stage before entering the Round of 16 single elimination. Players seemed happy with the changes that assured them three rounds.

Englishman Danny Willett was especially pleased after beating Jim Furyk 3 and 2 in the consolation match, earning him special temporary status on the PGA Tour.

“I’ve had a couple good weeks of practice and this course suited my eye," Willett said on NBC. “We knew that a decent finish today would get us our card for the rest of the year, so this was a big week for us.”

The tour will quickly switch its focus to the Players Championship at the legendary TPC Sawgrass next week. Tiger Woods is scheduled to make his first start since the Masters, at a venue he won at in 2013.

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