What happened when Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy faced off in match-play for the very first time

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Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are two names who are synonymous with the modern golf game but when it comes to match-play, we haven’t had too many chances to see how things unfold.

Sure, with the introduction of TGL last year we might well see more of Rory vs Tiger over the coming years but in terms of actual PGA Tour events, it’s a rare sight.

Remarkably, the duo have never actually come up against each other in a Ryder Cup despite playing in a number of events at the same time.

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However, on the PGA Tour, McIlroy and Woods did get the chance to go head to head back in 2019 and it’s safe to say it didn’t disappoint.

How Tiger Woods beat Rory McIlroy at the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

Just like with last weekend in the Ryder Cup and the taster we got of Rory McIlroy vs Scottie Scheffler, the idea over the years of McIlroy and Woods going up against each other was always an exciting one.

Thankfully, we got to see it unfold in 2019 at the WGC Match Play event and it did not disappoint one bit.

Woods was holding a three hole lead going down the back nine but in typical fashion, McIlroy came roaring back to win two holes on the bounce to set up a nervy finish.

However, Woods held his nerve on the 17th hole and rolled in a 15-foot putt to seal the a 2&1 win over McIlroy and give himself the bragging rights.

At the time, Woods was delighted to win, admitting that McIlroy had simply not made any putts.

“I played pretty consistent the entire day,” Woods said. “I felt like I didn’t give him any holes and Rory didn’t make any putts today. It was just a tough day all around and I’m happy I advanced.”

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How Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy did in their TGL match

As mentioned, the TGL should provide us with more opportunities to see these two behemoths of the game go at each other.

Back in January of this year, we got our first taste of that as McIlroy’s Boston Common went up against Woods’ Jupiter Links.

Sadly for McIlroy, it was a familiar story to that of 2019 as Woods’ team ran out 4-3 winners in an overtime thriller in Florida.

With Woods currently recovering from yet another injury and the TGL to get underway again at the end of December, it remains to be seen if we’ll get to run this one back soon.