Stars align in Austin giving golf a Texas-sized showdown in Woods and McIlroy

AUSTIN, Texas – Serendipity in sports is rare with best-case scenarios often the victim of the capriciousness of competition. But on those rare occasions when providence steps in it’s worth savoring the moment.

Consider all the cosmic tumblers that had to fall into place on Friday at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for Tiger Woods, who, for the first two days, appeared uninspired by both the format and the golf course, to advance to the weekend and set up the kind of showdown that looks so good on paper but rarely comes to pass.

Job 1 for Woods was to beat Patrick Cantlay. For Woods this was the easiest part thanks entirely to a natural set of competitive blinders.

“I needed to take care of my own match. It’s irrelevant if I lose my match. So, take care of my match,” Woods said.

If, and that was a big if considering that Woods played 15 holes in even par on his way to a Day 2 loss to Brandt Snedeker, he did win on Friday he needed Aaron Wise to beat Snedeker. Again, that eventuality was not exactly foregone considering that Wise had played 33 holes and led exactly one of those holes this week on his way to a 0-2-0 record.

Just to prove that fate is rarely a fan of the favorite, Woods fell behind early on Friday, going 2 down just before the turn and 1 over par for the day.

“Patrick got a bad break on 9,” Woods said of Cantlay’s drive that careened helplessly down a hill and into a hazard setting up a bogey that cut his lead to 1 up.

Luck had nothing to do with the next seven holes. Woods took the gift when Cantlay bogeyed the ninth hole and he rolled in his longest putt of the day from 21 feet for birdie at the 11th hole to tie the match.

“[No.] 11 was big because I had a little bit of momentum from what happened at 9 and I hit a good putt at 10,” Woods said. “I said, just keep plugging along, it’s going to turn, and eventually it really did turn, it turned pretty nicely.”

He followed with another birdie at the 12th hole to take a 1-up lead and played the match play odds on No. 13 with a layup to 83 yards. Woods’ “little 60-degree” wedge shot bounced right of the flag, spun left and dropped perfectly in the hole for eagle.

“I knew I needed to put it up there to at least have a chance at [birdie], to force him to have a good pitch from down there and a bit of a bonus,” Woods said.

Bit of an understatement, but OK.

Woods birdied two of his next three holes to win the match, 4 and 2. By then, destiny’s other shoe had already dropped like a 460cc hammer on Snedeker, who only needed a tie to force a playoff for a spot in the knockout frame, when Wise ran him off Austin Country Club, 6 and 4.

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Even after two days at the WGC-Match Play, Woods admitted he didn’t have a great handle on the pool play format, which was implemented in 2015 and two years after Tiger last played the event. The litany of confusing scenarios probably did little to hold his interest following his loss to Snedeker on Thursday. But as the pieces fell into place his curiosity grew.

“I’m advancing,” he shrugged. “I’m thankful for the format because I’d be home yesterday. So, I get a chance to play tomorrow morning.”

And what a morning it will be.

If all the stars needed to align perfectly on Friday for Woods to play another day it was pure kismet that the week’s most entertaining match set the stage for the week’s most anticipated showdown between Woods and Rory McIlroy, who defeated Matthew Fitzpatrick, 4 and 2, to complete a perfect run through the pool stage.

The game’s hottest player at the moment in McIlroy, who is fresh off his victory at The Players and hasn’t finished outside the top 10 this year, against the game’s hottest commodity. Yes, please.

Inexplicably, the duo has never played each other in a Ryder Cup but there will be plenty of familiarity. This will be the 19th time they’ve been in the same group on the PGA Tour.

“If it is Rory, we’re looking forward to it,” Woods said. “We’ve played tournaments together, battled each other down the stretch at events, but never in a match-play situation, so this will be fun.”

McIlroy’s reaction to the pairing was a tad more enthusiastic.

“I just hope I put up a better fight than I did in Atlanta last year,” McIlroy said. “I’m sure it’s going to be exciting for us. I feel good about my game. I played well all year. I’ve continued to do that this week.”

Of the duo’s previous 18 meetings on Tour it’s that duel last September at the Tour Championship that stands out. McIlroy began the day three shot behind Woods. Tiger shot 71 and won. McIlroy shot 74 and hasn’t forgotten.

McIlroy is hardly the only player to wilt under the bright lights of a Sunday showdown with Woods but he might be the player most prepared to learn from the moment.

“It’s definitely going to be one of those ones where I need to go out there and stick to my game plan, and not really look at what he does until maybe I have to towards the end,” McIlroy said.

For McIlroy, Saturday’s match is a rare chance for redemption. For the rest of us it’s an even rarer chance to savor sweet serendipity.