Accenture Match Play Elite Eight: Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy

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Teenager Rory McIlroy has been a popular player to follow this week in his first World Golf Championships start.

Feb. 27, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM Staff

Rory McIlroy is the only player remaining in the field for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship who can say he won in his last start. The victory in the Dubai Desert Classic last month came at the end of a 12-tournament stretch where he finished among the top 10 eight times.

The talented 19-year-old returned to his parents' home in the Belfast suburb of Holywood to a blanket of snow, though. He didn't touch a club for two weeks, as a result -- which may have been a blessing in disguise so the precocious teenager could be a kid again.

McIlroy eventually got in a week of practice before flying to southern California last week to do some work at the Titleist Performance Institute. He tested the new Pro V-1x and played The Bridges with Scott Cameron on Saturday before heading to Arizona to prepare.

McILROY QUOTE: "I think I've always been quite a good ball-striker and it's good for match play. You give yourself a lot of chances and a lot of opportunities to win the holes. And I've been able to do that this week."

KEY STAT: McIlroy hasn't made a bogey since the 10th hole of his 1-up win over Hunter Mahan in the second round. During that stretch of 23 holes, the Northern Irishman has made nine birdies.

QUARTERFINAL OPPONENT: Geoff Ogilvy (Saturday tee time 9:20 a.m. ET)

How McIlroy Reached the Quarterfinals

Round 1: Defeated Louis Oosthuizen	2 and 1
The teenager made a successful World Golf Championships when he ousted Oosthuizen with a steady round. McIlroy never trailed in the match that saw him take an early edge with a conceded birdie at the second and promptly lose it with a bogey on the next. Not to worry. The 19-year-old, who won the Dubai Desert Classic last month, then went 2 up when he won the ninth and 10th with a birdie and a par. When Oosthuizen cut into that lead with a birdie at No. 12, McIlroy answered with a birdie at the next and parred in for the victory.
Round 2: Defeated Hunter Mahan	1 up
The teenager never held the lead until his birdie at the 17th hole put him 1 up. Mahan birdied the final hole, but McIlroy matched him to halve the hole and win the match. It was a spectacular back nine for McIlroy, who found himself 2 down after 12 holes. From that point, he turned it on, with birdies in four of his final six holes. "I saved my best for last," McIlroy said. Those final six holes are obviously to McIlroy's liking -- in the first two rounds here, he is 5 under from the 13th hole on.
Round 3: Defeated Tim Clark	4 and 3
McIlroy continues to impress in the desert, downing Tiger-beater Clark. McIlroy was virtually flawless on Friday, with five birdies and no bogeys in the 15 holes of the match. He was 4 up through six and never allowed Clark to make any kind of a rally. "I came out and got off to quite a fast start and got an early lead," McIlroy said. For Clark, it was a deflating loss after his second-round high of upsetting Tiger Woods. "I just felt a little bit flat," Clark said. "Rory played really well. He's obviously a tremendous talent and I was very impressed with his game."