Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel to renew rivalry at Cadillac Match Play

 

SAN FRANCISCO – Match play golf is nothing without a little hot-blooded one-on-one confrontation, and there should be a dandy on Friday at TPC Harding Park.

 

By winning their respective matches Thursday to go 2-0, Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel will square off Friday at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play for the right to advance to the weekend's single elimination rounds, and it could be juicy stuff.

 

McIlroy and Horschel have an edgy match play history that dates back to their amateur days at the 2007 Walker Cup, when McIlroy became so irritated by Horschel's over-the-top antics on the course that he mocked him the next day with his own feigned outbursts after hitting a good shot.

 

"Fortunately, he's mellowed since then," McIlroy said before this week's tournament started. "But when I saw I was playing Billy (in my group), I sort of had a little chuckle to myself."

 

Now it's on for big stakes – the winner advances to the round of 16 Saturday and the loser is out. So it might not be so mellow.

 

At the '07 Walker Cup at Royal County Down, Horschel beat McIlroy twice – first in singles and then in foursomes with Rickie Fowler, 2 and 1. McIlroy, steamed at Horschel's boisterous gamesmanship, bounced back by beat him 3 and 2 in Sunday singles but the U.S. went on to defeat Great Britain/Ireland by a single point.

 

So was Horschel, who beat second-place McIlroy by three strokes to win the Tour Championship in 2014, really that bad?

 

"I probably was a jackass at that time," said Horschel Thursday after beating Jason Dufner 3 and 2 to set up his McIlroy showdown. McIlroy, meanwhile, beat Brandt Snedeker 2-up only minutes after Horschel won.

 

Horschel, 28, reflected on the events eight years ago and explained that since he was playing for the American team, he took it on himself to be its emotional leader.

 

"Playing for my country, obviously I got a little more amped up," he said. "And there were certain situations over there that I don't want to say got out of hand ... (McIlroy) may say it got out of hand. There was stuff said that wasn't a big deal to me. I never took anything hard from that. It's water under the bridge."

 

McIlroy seconded that.

 

"We're good mates," he said. "But back then we were a little bit younger and a little more emotional. So it was pretty heated. I don't think (Friday) will be quite so much like that, but you still need to win or go home. So it's an important game."

 

This article was written by Carl Steward from The Oakland Tribune and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.