Rory McIlroy Beats Tiger Woods In Exhibition Match

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Rory McIlroy shot a five-under-par 67 to beat Tiger Woods by one shot in what could be the first of a long line of exhibition matches between the world’s number one and two golfers.

The 18 hole head-to-head match at Jinsha Lake Golf Club in China gave the Northern Irishman a chance to avenge his six shot loss to Woods during the World Golf Finals in Turkey.

McIlroy got his nose in-front early and turned two ahead, before Woods chipped in at the short 12th to narrow the deficit. The American however, went on to bogey two holes and could not get back on level terms.

“It was a pretty exciting day and the match was pretty close,” said McIlroy. “I got off to a good start and had a little bit of advantage for the first few holes but then Tiger birdied a few on the back nine. All I was trying to do was to keep myself ahead and I managed to do that.”

Both players had to make long journeys to Zhengzhou – an industrial city in China’s Henan province – after competing in the BMW Masters in Shanghai (McIlroy) and the CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur (Woods) on Sunday.

After a hectic week, both players have opted to skip the forthcoming WGC HSBC Champions event, which starts on Thursday.

McIlroy will fly to Bulgaria to see girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, before returning east for the Singapore Open next week; while Woods has one event left in 2012, when he defends his title at the World Challenge in California at the end of November.

 

 

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