Rory McIlroy’s win against Scottie Scheffler goes to waste in the WGC-Dell Match Play consolation final

Rory McIlroy won against Scottie Scheffler at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on Sunday, March 26. But his win was wasted as it was a consolation final for third place.

Earlier that day, Rory McIlroy lost the match against Cameron Young in the semifinals, resulting in competition for third place. In a match against the World No. 1, McIlroy held the lead throughout the tournament, ultimately defeating him by 2 and 1.

McIlroy spoke about his win in a press conference and confessed that it was a pillow fight in the middle of the round. He, however, was happy to play against the No. 1 golfer in the world. Rory said:

“I guess it's called a consolation match for a reason. Consolation was going out there and winning a match this afternoon, obviously, playing the No. 1 player in the world. So I just had to regroup and try to, I got off to a decent start and got up on Scottie early. And then we were trading a few bogeys here and there. It was a bit of a pillow fight in the middle of the round."

Scottie Scheffler finished in fourth position and said:

“I'm a competitive guy and I snapped back into it when I was, I think I was 3 down maybe through 5, and I was like, 'oh, my gosh, if I don't snap back in, I'm going to be done on hole 12.' So it was good to fight back but just couldn't hole the putts this week."

It is pertinent to note that Sam Burns won the tournament after defeating Cameron Young in the finale.

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"All eyes on Augusta" - Rory McIlroy is getting ready for The Masters

Rory McIlroy finished in second position at the 2022 Masters. He lost to Scottie Scheffler in the final. However, the Northern Irish golfer is back in the game and is looking forward to wearing the green jacket this year.

McIlroy's prime focus is on Augusta's game. He missed the cut at The Players Championship two weeks ago, and this win against Scheffler at the WGC-Dell Match Play boosted his confidence for the upcoming tournament.

Speaking about the 2023 Masters, Rory McIlroy said:

“I feel a lot better about things now compared to this time a couple weeks ago after the Players Championship. So try to rest and recover a little bit over the next couple of days, and, yeah, all eyes on Augusta and just making sure that the game's ready. But everything feels in really good order, just work on some things that I know that I'll need for that week and just make sure I'm ready and rested."

The Masters is scheduled to take place on the historic Augusta National Golf Course from April 6 to 9. Scottie Scheffler won the tournament in 2022 and will be defending his title this year.

Interestingly, Scheffler won the 2023 Players Championship and regained his No. 1 title by dethroning Jon Rahm, who slipped down to second position in the Official World Golf Rankings.