Tiger Woods continues in match-play after Rory McIlroy & # 39; s Meltdown

AUSTIN, Tex. – Tiger Woods pulled into the quarter final of the Dell Technologies Match Play event by beating Rory McIlroy in a match that had one bad chance.

Their first game against each other ended on the 17th hole, when Woods broke a 12-foot par-putt for a 2-and-1 victory.

It felt like it ended a gap earlier.

McIlroy, who stayed behind on the fifth hole and never caught up, was ready to tie the game with a 395-yard ride with the wind on his back on the par-5 16th, giving him a short iron to green. Woods drove a half-buried lie near the edge of the bunker and was only 60 yards ahead. He hit his third before McIlroy hit his second.

But McIlroy's shot was so shockingly bad that it just landed over a bunker and came out of its pitch, but without going into the sand.

From there, McIlroy had nothing. He played the shot with both feet in the sand and it flew over the greenery, through the separate gallery and against wooden posts. Without any shot, McIlroy & # 39; s only option was to return to the previous spot and try that for a par. That went into another bunker.

Woods, who certainly looked to lose the gap, never had to try his 20-footer. Instead of everything being square, he was two.

McIlroy was so angry that he climbed the stairs to the 18th tee, got into a cart, and drove to the dressing room. He rejected repeated requests from the media and looked straight ahead when asked to comment as he drove to his car.

"It was a difficult day for both of us," Woods said.

to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2008, the last of his three wins in this World Golf Championship. The following day on Saturday after an extinguishing game was Lucas Bjerregaard from Denmark, who beat the last champion Henrik Stenson in 16 holes.

In other competitions:

■ Kevin Na, who was close, withdrew with a painful neck on Thursday, rallied twice with 2-down arrears and won four straight holes to Justin Rose to beat, making Rose return to number 1 in the world. He faced Francesco Molinari, who held the only perfect record this week with a 5 and 4 win over Paul Casey.

■ Kevin Kisner won the first three holes in a 6-and-5 win over Li Haotong. He went over to Louis Oosthuizen, who defeated Marc Leishman. Kisner and Oosthuizen are the only quarter-finalists who have lost their opening match on Wednesday.

■ Sergio Garcia won two late holes in an up-and-down match against Branden Grace who took the distance before Garcia escaped with par to win 1 up. He then faced Matt Kuchar, a 4-and-3 winner at Tyrrell Hatton.

Europe started the day with eight players in the round of 16. Only three remained behind in the quarterfinals.

McIlroy led 37 of the 42 holes he had played to the fourth-round game Saturday morning, which lasted until the fifth hole. In what amounted to a chipping game, Woods beat him on the attainable par-4 fifth and par-5 sixth and went 2 up. McIlroy let the odds slip by missing a 7-foot putt to win the ninth and by dropping the 10th to 3 with three.

And then the front moved in dramatic circumstances.

McIlroy, after winning his first hole on the par-5 12th, hit 3-wood just over the back of the green on the par-4 13th over water. Woods chose to lie down, but by the time he reached his ball, it started to rain and the wind was right below the wind to a front pin. Woods had no chance to get close, his wedge went over the green and McIlroy won the hole with a birdie to close the opening to one hole.

That was as close as it got.

Woods entered a 7-foot par-putt on the 15th and McIlroy threw it away on the 16th.