SAN FRANCISCO – Rory McIlroy didn’t need another comeback to win the Match Play Championship.

Three times in the last three days, McIlroy had to rally from a late deficit to reach the championship match Sunday at TPC Harding Park. He removed any suspense by winning four straight holes against an errant Gary Woodland and never looked back.

Woodland conceded the 16th hole, and McIlroy captured his second World Golf Championship with a 4-and-2 victory.

Three weeks after Jordan Spieth won the Masters and emerged as the most likely rival, McIlroy reminded the world of his No. 1 ranking.

“I’m really proud of myself with how I showed a lot of character early on with coming back from deficits,” McIlroy said. “I played really solid golf. My second WGC and first win in the States this year. I couldn’t be happier.”

It was the first time since Tiger Woods in 2008 that the No. 1 seed won golf’s most unpredictable tournament. Woods did it two other times, and it was never easy.

That was the case for McIlroy until the final, and even then, he had a few nervous moments on the back nine.

McIlroy was 4 up after matching birdies with Woodland on the 10th hole when he began making mistakes – a poor bunker shot on No. 11, a wild tee shot on No. 12, an different chip from the left side of the 13th green.

Woodland had a 4-foot par putt on the 13th to cut the lead to 1 up with plenty of golf course left. He never looked comfortable and ran it over the right edge, and momentum shifted squarely back to McIlroy.

He won the 14th with a par when Woodland left a long birdie attempted woefully short. And he closed out the match when Woodland blasted out of a bunker and over the 16th green, missing the next shot and removing his cap.

“My putt drops on 13 and it’s a different ball game,” Woodland said. “But I missed that one. And he was like a shark. Smelled blood, and it was gave over quickly.”

McIlroy was 2 down with two holes to play and risked being eliminated Friday when he rallied against Billy Horschel to win in 20 holes. In a quarterfinal match that spilled into Sunday morning, he was 1 down to Paul Casey on the 17th hole and wound up beating him in 22 holes.

His strongest play was in the semifinals against Jim Furyk, who put enormous pressure on McIlroy over the closing holes by hitting four straight approach shots close. McIlroy delivered a birdie-birdie-eagle finish to win.

The first birdie was to halve the hole on the 16th and avoid going 2 down with 2 to play. He hit 7-iron to 4 feet for birdie on the 17th to square the match. And with Furyk facing a 20-foot birdie putt, McIlroy ended the match by rolling in a 45-foot eagle putt across the green for a 1-up victory.

Woodland faced an early deficit to Danny Willett of England in the semifinals until he turned it around for a 3-and-2 victory. Going into the championship match, Woodland had trailed on only 11 of the 101 holes he had played all week.

Against McIlroy, he never led.

They halved holes with bogeys until Woodland kept making them. His powerful driving, such a strength over four days, deserted him in the championship match and McIlroy made him pay for it.

In the consolation match, Willett defeated Furyk on the 16th hole and picked up $646,000, which will go a long way toward PGA Tour membership if he wants it.

McIlroy won for the second time this year and the 16th time worldwide. It was his 10th PGA Tour victory, joining Woods (24) and Jack Nicklaus (12) as the only players with at least 10 victories at age 25 or younger.

McIlroy turns 26 on Monday.

The Match Play Championship featured a new format this year to keep more top players in the field for at least three days. McIlroy was 3-0 in the round-robin format, and wound up winning all seven matches to pick up the $1.57 million prize.

Woodland earned $930,000 for finishing second.

SAN FRANCISCO – Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn are no longer a power couple in American sports.

Golf’s biggest star and the Olympic ski champion said Sunday they were breaking up after more than two years. But in ending their relationship, both were in complete harmony in their separate announcements on social media, citing busy lives and times they will always “cherish.”

“After nearly three years together, Tiger and I have mutually decided to end our relationship,” Vonn said Sunday on her Facebook page. “I will always cherish the memories that we’ve created together. Unfortunately, we both lead incredibly hectic lives that force us to spend a majority of our time apart. He and his beautiful family will always hold a special place in my heart.”

Vonn, an Olympic ski champion, this year set the record for most World Cup titles.

“Lindsey and I have mutually decided to stop dating,” Woods said on his website. “I have great admiration, respect and love for Lindsey and I’ll always cherish our time together. She has been amazing with Sam and Charlie and my entire family. Unfortunately, we lead very hectic lives and are both competing in demanding sports. It’s difficult to spend time together.”

Both are divorced.

They were last seen in public at the Masters, where Vonn accompanied Woods’ children – 7-year-old daughter Sam, 6-year-old son Charlie – when they caddied for him in the Par 3 Tournament.

Woods was in Italy in January when Vonn broke the World Cup record, and he was photographed with a skeleton-pattern mask that when dropped revealed he was missing a tooth. Woods later said a videographer bumped into him and jarred it loose.

He also was in Colorado where she competed before a home crowd in February, right after Woods announced he was taking time away from golf because his game wasn’t up to his standards. He shot an 82 in the Phoenix Open to miss the cut by 12 shots. He withdrew after 11 holes at Torrey Pines the following week with tightness in his back.

Vonn had become a regular at the majors when Woods played. She also was at the Hero World Challenge that he hosts in December in Orlando, Florida.

Rumors they were involved began during her knee injury in 2013 amid reports he had sent his plane for her. Given his demand for privacy, it was rare when Woods went public in March 2013 to announce they were dating.

It was accompanied by portraits of both on Facebook and his website. Woods said at Bay Hill that year he wanted to limit what he called the “stalkarazzi” and the “sleazy websites” that were following them.

Both have been recovering from injuries, and Vonn said recently on “Late Night with Seth Myers” that they’ve helped each other.

“He’s been through a lot of injuries, and so have I,” Vonn said. “It’s nice to be in the gym with someone that knew what you were going through. And we kind of just pushed each other back to health.”

That appearance led to an amusing exchange when Meyers asked if she had always been interested in golf. Vonn playfully squirmed in her seat before saying, “I love golf.” It was pointed out that for Woods to attend a downhill event, the race would be much shorter than a round of golf.

“It’s like five hours,” Vonn said. “It’s a long time.”

Golf went from two sporting couples to none in the last 11 months. Just under a year ago, Rory McIlroy broke off his engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. McIlroy went on to win the BMW PGA Championship that week, which is the flagship tournament in Europe.

Woods plays next week in the PGA Tour’s top event – The Players Championship. However, he has not won since August 2013 and will be out of the top 120 in the next world ranking when he tees it up at TPC Sawgrass.

IRVING, Texas – Inbee Park won the LPGA Tour’s North Texas Shootout for the second time in three years Sunday, closing with a bogey-free 6-under 65 for a three stroke victory.

Park finished at 15-under 269 at Las Colinas for her second victory this year and 14th on the tour. The 26-year-old South Korean player, the HSBC Women’s Champions winner in March in Singapore, earned $195,000 to push her career total to nearly $10.8 million.

Cristie Kerr and Hee Young Park tied for second. The 37-year-old Kerr had three consecutive birdies to finish her round of 66. Hee Young Park also had a 66, birdieing the final two holes after her only bogey at No. 16.

Lexi Thompson, who shared the third-round lead with Inbee Park, closed with a 69 to tie for fourth with Maria McBride (65) at 11 under.

Park, ranked No. 2 in the world, never surrendered the lead after consecutive birdies at the second and third holes. This is the fourth season in a row in which she has multiple victories.

Lydia Ko, coming off a win last week in California, will maintain the No. 1 ranking even after the 18-year-old from New Zealand had a closing 71 to tie for 41st at even par.

A stroke behind Park midway through the round, Thompson thought she had a chance to get even again after her approach to about 5 feet at the 415-yard ninth hole. But before she made that birdie putt, Park curled in a much longer putt there to get to 12 under.

The gap between them was four strokes after Park made a 10-foot birdie putt at the 390-yard 15th hole to get to 14 under. Thompson hit her approach through that green and made a bogey.

Angela Stanford, who lives in nearby Fort Worth and attended TCU, was at 10 under after a 69. That was a stroke ahead of a trio of defending champion Stacy Lewis (67), Juli Inkster (67) and Karrie Webb (70).

It was the first top-10 finish since 2011 for Inkster, the 54-year-old Solheim Cup captain and 31-time tour winner.

McBride had made only $49,315 in her 32 previous starts since 2012, when the Swede had her last top-10 finish. The tie for fourth will net her $61,259.

Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old Canadian who nearly made a playoff last week in San Francisco and was the second-round leader in North Texas, opened Sunday with a birdie to get to 9 under and match the leaders who had not yet teed off.

But Henderson was out of contention after a three-hole stretch that started with a bogey at the par-5 third hole, where her approach settled in a concrete culvert under a city street between holes. She hit her tee shot at the 165-yard fourth hole into the water fronting the green and had double bogey, then had another bogey at the fifth hole.

Henderson shot a 73 to tie for 13th at 6-under 278.

The LPGA Tour last year denied Henderson a membership waiver to its minimum age requirement of 18. Just to play in Texas, she took an overnight flight after finishing the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic and then had to endure a qualifying round stretched over two days because of weather before a playoff just to make the field.

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp finished in a three-way tie for 17th place.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Ian Woosnam made a 30-foot birdie putt in a playoff Sunday to win the Insperity Invitational for his first Champions Tour title.

Woosnam, the 57-year-old Welshman playing on a sponsor exemption, beat Kenny Perry and Tom Lehman on the first extra hole at The Woodlands Country Club. The 1991 Masters champion was making his 36th start on the 50-and-over tour.

Woosnam closed with a 4-under 68 to match Perry and Lehman at 11-under 205. Perry finished with a 66, and Lehman shot 69.

In the playoff, Lehman sliced his approach on the par-4 18th into the water, and Perry left a long birdie try 8 feet short before Woosnam rolled in the winner.

Woosnam earned $307,500. Last week in Missouri, he teamed with Sandy Lyle to tie for second in the Legends of Golf. Woosnam won 29 times on the European Tour, captained Europe’s winning 2006 Ryder Cup team and has five victories on the European Senior Tour.

Second-round leader Michael Allen shot a 72 to finish a stroke back along with Joe Durant (71).

Canadian Stephen Ames finished 7-under 209 for a share of 9th place.

NEWBURGH, Ind. – Rookie Smylie Kaufman won the United Leasing Championship by five strokes Sunday for his first Web.com Tour title.

Kaufman, the 23-year-old former LSU player from Birmingham, Alabama, had two double bogeys on the back nine in a closing 1-over 73 to finish at 10-under 278 at Victoria National. He matched the course record with a 64 on Saturday to take a four-stroke lead into the final round.

Kaufman earned $108,000 to jump from 28th to fourth on the money list with $159,535. He was coming off consecutive fourth-place ties in the Louisiana Open and Mexico Championship after missing the cuts in his first three starts of the year.

Jonathan Randolph (69), Adam Long (73) and Ryan Spears (74) tied for second.

The top Canadian was Roger Sloan. The Calgary native tied for 26th (70) at 2 over.

McCORMICK, SC – Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes could not hold onto his third-round lead on Sunday, slipping to 13-under par with a 2-over 74 for a fourth-place finish at the NGA Tour’s Savannah Lakes Village Classic.

Despite an eagle on the par-5 3^rd hole, the 24-year-old Team Canada Young Pro Squad member struggled with six bogeys on the day. American Chas Narramore jumped on the opportunity, winning the tournament for a second time with a 5-under par 67.

Hughes, a Dundas, Ont., native, had built a one-stroke advantage following a remarkable 11-under, bogey-free 61 on Saturday before relinquishing the lead.

Hughes’ top-five performance adds to an impressive list of Canadian accomplishments on the NGA Tour this season—including recent wins from Adam Svensson (2), Albin Choi (2), Lucas Kim (2), Riley Wheeldon and Taylor Pendrith.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

IRVING, Texas – Long-hitting Lexi Thompson was going for the green in two with her approach on the 18th hole. She got there with a fortunate ricochet, and grabbed a share of the lead in the LPGA’s North Texas Shootout.

Thompson hit a screamer well left of the green on the closing par 5 in the third round Saturday. The ball struck the front facing of a grandstand and ricocheted onto the green, skimming just over the top of a bunker.

“I wouldn’t say I was trying to nail that grandstand,” Thompson said with a chuckle after the long two-putt birdie to close a round of 3-under 68.

Thompson shared the lead at 9-under 204 with 2013 North Texas winner Inbee Park, who finished a round of 69 with a more conventional birdie at No. 18. Park hit her third-shot approach inside a foot.

“It’s always good momentum going into tomorrow when you finish with a birdie, and obviously all day today I hit good shots, but inside 10 feet it wasn’t going in,” Park said. “I had to hit it closer.”

Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old Team Canada member who had the second-round lead, shot an even-par 71 to drop into a tie for third at 8 under with 40-year-old Karrie Webb (64) and Angela Stanford (67).

“Playing rounds like that is fun. I would have told you on Thursday that I wasn’t a big fan of golf at the time,” Webb said, referring to her opening 2-over 73. “Now two days later, everything feels good.”

Webb was the youngest player on the LPGA Tour when as a 21-year-old rookie in 1996 she won four times and was the first player to win $1 million in a season. Now the Australian with 41 career wins is competing with players even younger than that with a focus on being part of the Olympics when golf returns next year in Brazil.

“I think that’s really keeping me out here, keeping me working hard,” she said. “That’s something at the start of my career I never envisioned, being part of the Olympics.”

The 20-year-old Thompson, who turned pro five years ago, was about 220 yards out at the 518-yard 18th when she crushed a 3-wood.

Without the assist from the stands, she might have been set up for only her second bogey of the day – or even worse. She burst out laughing in the fairway after watching what happened with her ball.

“It was kind of pushing my hybrid to carry over on the right,” Thompson said. “I was just trying to cut a 3 wood, and it was really solid. I’m just happy it hit that grandstand and not somebody else out there.”

Cristie Kerr, who missed a short birdie try on her final hole, shot 69 and was tied for sixth with Hee Young Park (70) at 7 under.

Defending champion Stacy Lewis had a 66 to move into a tie for eighth place at 5 under, after starting the weekend even and tied for 47th. Lewis and 54-year-old Juli Inkster (73) were in a group of eight players five strokes off the lead.

“It’s awesome, everybody knows Karrie has so much game still. It’s ridiculous how talented she is,” Thompson said. “Juli Inkster is in the mix, too, which is awesome to see. Fans love that. It’s all ages, and it’s great to see in golf.”

Lydia Ko, the 18-year-old from New Zealand who is the No. 1 player in the world and won in California last week, shot a 70 to get even for the week. She had to make three birdies over her last eight holes Friday just to avoid missing the cut for the first time in her 51 career starts.

Just like Friday, Ko was right on the number for the secondary cut, among the 51 players advance to the final round at even or better. When the initial cut was made at 1 over after the second round, 70 of the original 144-player field made it.

“Really, I think over the last two days, I’m realizing that one shot, one little putt, can make a huge difference,” said Ko, who will keep her No. 1 ranking after this week. “Luckily I’m playing four days, and after the first day, you know, I didn’t know if I was going to play through.”

Henderson isn’t the only Canadian lurking near the top of the leaderboard. Alena Sharp (71) had a share of 16th heading into the final round.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Michael Allen birdied the final two holes for a 4-under 68 and a one-stroke lead Saturday after the second round of the Champions Tour’s Insperity Invitational.

The 56-year-old Allen had a 10-under 134 total at The Woodlands Country Club. He has seven victories on the 50-and-over tour, winning twice last season.

“If you haven’t won for a while, it just seems like you’re never going to do it again,” Allen said. “To win again tomorrow would be really important to me. I love playing here. I think they’ve had a lot of great champions. I would love to be a part of it.”

Joe Durant was second after a 68. He had a double bogey in the par-4 17th and rebounded with a birdie on the par-4 18th. Last week, he teamed with Billy Andrade to win the Legends of Golf in Missouri for his first Champions Tour title.

Durant wanted to quickly put the double bogey behind him.

“I just blanked out for a minute on 17,” Durant said. “As a result, I hit it in the water and made double. Came back with a nice birdie on 18. I hit a bad shot on 17, but so what? You’re going to hit bad shots from time to time.”

Scott Dunlap, Woody Austin and Tom Lehman were 8 under. Dunlap had a 65, the best round of the day. Austin and Lehman shot 66.

“I didn’t hit the ball super great,” Lehman said. “In fact, I hit the ball much better yesterday. I seemed to always manage to get it in the right places and shot a good score.”

Defending champion Bernhard Langer was 7 under after a 66. Marco Dawson, tied for the first-round lead with Allen after a 66, had a 72 to drop into a tie for 10th at 6 under.

Canada’s Stephen Ames slipped slightly Saturday after a 71. He’s now tied for 18th at 4-under.

IRVING, Texas -Brooke Henderson is too young for LPGA Tour membership. She’s good enough to top the leaderboard – again.

Henderson shot a 6-under 65 on Friday in the North Texas Shootout, giving the 17-year-old Canadian the lead going into the weekend for the second straight week on the LPGA Tour.

Henderson had a bogey-free round to reach 8-under 134 total at Las Colinas, a stroke ahead of 2013 winner Inbee Park and 54-year-old Juli Inkster.

Denied a waiver to the LPGA Tour’s minimum-age requirement of 18 last year, Henderson earned the last spot in the field Tuesday in a playoff in the qualifier. Last week in California in the Swinging Skirts, she led after the second and third rounds, but fell a stroke short of a playoff that Lydia Ko won over Morgan Pressel.

“Last week, definitely helped out a lot,” Henderson said. “Finishing third and having a chance to win on Sunday was a lot of fun. I’m excited to be in the same position. Hopefully, it will just turn out a little better.”

On her final hole, Henderson chipped from the rough behind the green toward the pin 20 yards away and sank a 6-foot putt to maintain the lead.

“It was a bad lie in the rough, so I’ll take it,” she said.

The top-ranked Ko rallied Friday to push her career-long cuts streak to 51, following her opening 75 with a 68 to make it on the number at 1-over 143. The 18-year-old New Zealander was tied for 62nd.

Park had a 66, and Inkster shot 69.

Lexi Thompson, Mi Hyang Lee, Hee Young Park and Karine Icher were tied for fourth at 6 under.

Ko said she was emotional about making the cut heading into the back nine, still at 4 over, because she pledged to donate her earnings this week to the earthquake relief in Nepal.

“All day, I was thinking, you know, make some birdies for the kids in Nepal,” she said. “I was going to cry after my putt.”

Park wasn’t happy with her putting last week in California and changed clubs. The result: 27 putts on Thursday, 26 on Friday.

“If the putter doesn’t work, you’re just going to walk away with the pars,” she said. “Hopefully, this putter can stay in the bag a long time.”

After Inkster opened with a 66 to share the first-round lead, she stated she really wasn’t “looking forward to winning.” Sitting one shot out of the lead going into Saturday, she amended her position slightly.

“I’m just not counting my chickens before they hatch,” said the Solheim Cup captain and 31-time tour winner, most recently in 2006. “I mean, I’ve got a lot of golf left.”

Michelle Wie was four strokes back at 4 under after a 70. She was 7 under through 12 holes, but bogeyed three of the last four holes.

Another Canadian, Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., has a share of 12th. She’s 4-under, four-shots off the lead, after a 71.

Paula Creamer withdrew after shooting par Thursday, citing personal reasons.

The field will be cut a second time after Saturday’s play, to the top 50 and ties.

SAN FRANCISCO – The new Match Play Championship felt a lot like the old one Friday when one top seed after another began making plans to go home. Rory McIlroy kept some star power at TPC Harding Park with a comeback that shows why he is No. 1 in the world.

After making only one birdie, McIlroy finished with three in a row.

Facing elimination, he holed a 20-foot putt on the 17th to stay in the game. Another birdie followed to send it to overtime. And after another poor chip by Billy Horschel, McIlroy was on his way to the round of 16.

“I dug deep when I needed to,” McIlroy said.

Masters champion Jordan Spieth wasn’t so fortunate. Neither was Bubba Watson, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia. Only two of the top 10 seeds – McIlroy and Jim Furyk at No. 5 – reached the round of 16 that starts Saturday with single-elimination.

Spieth was all square in a back-and-forth match with Lee Westwood that featured chip-ins for halves on consecutive holes. Westwood delivered the clutch shot with a 6-iron to 12 feet for birdie on the 17th, and Spieth failed to birdie the 18th.

“Lee played well and pulled off the shots when he needed to at the end,” Spieth said. “And I didn’t.”

Furyk had to go 20 holes to beat Martin Kaymer, and then he went one extra hole as a spectator with plenty at stake. Furyk was only assured of winning his four-man group if George Coetzee beat Thongchai Jaidee. The South African won in 21 holes, and Furyk advanced because he beat Coetzee on Wednesday.

“Kind of an awkward feeling,” Furyk said.

Friday was all about elimination, and it came in all shapes and sizes – a battle of undefeated players, a three-way playoff and some head-to-head tiebreakers.

McIlroy only had to beat Horschel, whom he hadn’t faced in this format since their contentious battles in the Walker Cup in 2007 when both were young and prone to irritate each other with their celebrations. McIlroy had only one birdie until making three straight at the end (one for a halve at the 16th), but none was bigger than his 20-foot putt on the 17th.

“It was either hole it or go home,” McIlroy said. “It was obviously the best putt of the whole day.”

Horschel missed his birdie putt to win the match. Horschel chipped too strong and missed another birdie putt that would have won the match on the 18th. Horschel squandered yet another birdie opportunity on the par-5 first hole after a perfect tee shot. And then on the par-3 second, he chipped too strong again and missed an 8-foot par putt that gave McIlroy the match.

There were no hard feelings. That Walker Cup was a long time ago and they get along just fine these days. This was a good match with no animosity.

“Not as much as Keegan and Miguel, apparently,” McIlroy said.

That would be Keegan Bradley and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who went nose-to-nose during a dispute about a drop Bradley took. It was a misunderstanding until Bradley’s caddie got involved, the Spaniard effectively told him to butt out and Bradley came to his caddie’s defense.

That was only a sideshow on a day filled with far more interesting developments.

– Twelve players who won their groups went 3-0.

– Four players who advanced were the lowest seed in their group, with John Senden (No. 60) easily advancing with a perfect record.

– Tommy Fleetwood of England had to play 58 holes to reach the round of 16 in his first Match Play Championship. Hunter Mahan also was 3-0 and still hasn’t seen the final three holes in any of his matches. Mahan, a past champion of this event, has played only 41 holes.

– McIlroy, Westwood, Gary Woodland and Louis Oosthuizen all won matches between players who had not lost. Oosthuizen struck a blow by beating Bubba Watson on the first extra hole.

– Fleetwood, Branden Grace and J.B. Holmes all advanced after losing their matches Wednesday. Holmes beat Brooks Koepka, who was eliminated in a tiebreaker. Grace, Zach Johnson and Charley Hoffman all finished 2-1, and Grace won with a birdie on the third extra hole.

– Rickie Fowler and Senden won their matches, even though they already were set for the round of 16.

Westwood and Spieth were all square when Spieth chipped in for birdie on the 15th, and Westwood halved the hole with a 10-foot putt. Westwood hit out of a bunker and clear over the green on the 16th, flubbed a chip and then halved the hole by chipping in for par.

“I walked up to 17 and said, `We’re even.’ And he played 17 and 18 better than I did,” Spieth said.

Westwood hit 6-iron to 12 feet and gave a baby fist pump – rare emotion for the Englishman – when he made birdie, which spoke to the quality of the match.

“I think probably getting out of the group is really one of the toughest things his week,” Westwood.