PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Nothing was overrated about Rickie Fowler at The Players Championship.

Not the way he rallied from a five-shot deficit with the greatest finish in the 34-year history of the TPC Sawgrass. Not the two tee shots he smashed down the daunting 18th fairway Sunday when a miss to the left or right spelled trouble. And certainly not the three tee shots – yes, three – he stuffed on the island-green 17th hole for birdie each time.

The last one made him a winner, the best answer to that anonymous player survey that he was an underachiever.

At a tournament that dresses up like a major, Fowler sure looked the part in beating the strongest field in golf.

“I’d say this was a pretty big one,” Fowler said.

It certainly wasn’t easy. Fowler’s record-setting finish – birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie on the last four holes for a 5-under 67 – looked like a winner until Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner delivered big shots of their own.

In the first three-hole playoff at The Players, Kisner hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th to 10 feet and rolled in a breaking birdie putt to keep pace with Fowler, who had hit his tee shot to 6 feet and converted the birdie. Garcia, who in regulation made a 45-foot birdie to give him new life, failed to repeat the putt from about the same range in the playoff. All three players made par on the final hole, which eliminated Garcia.

Fowler and Kisner, who closed with a 69 and is now 0 for 102 in his PGA Tour career, headed back to the 17th hole for the third time. The great shots kept coming. Kisner barely cleared the mound and the ball settled 12 feet away. Fowler answered by taking on the right side of the green and sticking it just inside 5 feet.

Kisner finally missed.

Fowler never seemed to miss over the final two hours, and he calmly clutched his fist to celebrate his first PGA Tour victory in three years.

Garcia, who had a two-shot lead heading to the back nine, closed with a 68. He had a 20-foot birdie putt to win in regulation that missed badly to the right. And he faced a crowd that was increasingly hostile to the Spaniard, perhaps remembering the tiff he had with Tiger Woods two years ago.

His caddie was asking for security when he made the turn. In the three-hole playoff, a small group of fans yelled, “USA!” as he took the putter back.

It marred what was other sheer brilliance, a most unforgettable final hour in a tournament that has a history of them.

For Fowler, the timing couldn’t have been better.

One of the questions in SI Golf’s annual player survey – players do not give their names – was to pick the most overrated player on the PGA Tour. Fowler and Ian Poulter shared first place at 24 percent. Fowler has never faced this level of criticism, a favorite among fans and most players for his considerate behavior.

He tried to play it down, though he said on more than one occasion this week that it would motivate him.

He was at 6 under, five shots behind Garcia, when he hit a 9-iron to 12 feet on the 13th hole and “hit the button.”

What he hit was warp speed.

Fowler made a 15-foot birdie on the 15th hole. He took on the water at the par-5 15th with a shot into a slight breeze to 30 inches for eagle. Not at all daunted by an island green, he went at the flag and made it for 6 feet to take the lead for the first time. And then he blasted a tee shot 331 yards and made a 15-foot birdie on the 18th hole to be the first player to reach 12-under 276. And then he had to wait.

The Stadium Course has rarely lacked for greater theater over the last three decades.

This topped them all.

Over the final hour, six players had hopes of winning the richest prize in golf. Four of them were tied for the lead.

Ben Martin raced into the picture with three straight birdies, the last one an 8-footer after taking on the corner of the island on the par-3 17th. But he pushed his tee shot into the woods on the 18th, pitched out and missed his par putt for a 70 that knocked him out of the playoff.

Bill Haas had a chance to tie for the lead twice – first with a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th that just missed to the left, and then with a long birdie putt on the 17th that stopped one turn from falling in on the left side. Needing a birdie on the 18th to join the playoff, he had to play a runner to the green because he was blocked by trees. It came up short and he made par for a 70.

Fowler was the most sensational.

The finish by Garcia and Kisner would have been talked about for years. On this day, thanks to Fowler, it was nearly an afterthought.

Garcia two-putted from 70 feet from the fringe for a birdie at the 16th, and then rolled in his improbable birdie at the 17th. He missed from 20 feet on the 18th. Kisner, who twice made big putts in a losing effort to Jim Furyk at Hilton Head last month, got up-and-down for birdie on the 16th and holed a 10-footer for birdie on the 17th.

He had a 10-foot birdie putt for the win, and it touched the right side of the cup.

Tiger Woods had a 72 and tied for 69th, his worst position ever in The Players Championship. Rory McIlroy, who started the final round four shots behind, didn’t get going until it was too late. He closed with a 70 and tied for eighth, four shots behind.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Chris Kirk kept his cool during a rocky patch Saturday and made three straight birdies for a 4-under 68 that gave him a one-shot lead at The Players Championship going into the final round that is very much up for grabs.

That much was clear over the final hour on a TPC Sawgrass course that gave as much as it took.

Kirk went from out of the top 10 to a share of the lead in three holes. He had the lead to himself when Kevin Na three-putted for double bogey on the 18th hole.

What made Saturday so unpredictable was neither the Stadium Course nor the variety of shots, rather a leaderboard crammed with so many players that it was hard to keep track who was coming and who was going.

Ben Martin fell out of the lead with a bogey on the 18th for a 68, leaving him one shot behind along with Kevin Kisner (67) and Bill Haas (68). Justin Thomas was tied for the lead, but that was before the leaders teed off. The 22-year-old rookie set a Stadium Course record with 10 birdies in his round of 65 and was two behind, along with Sergio Garcia (67), Scott Brown (69), Canada’s David Heard (70), Jerry Kelly (72) and Na, who had to settle for a 72.

At the end of the day, 24 players were separated by four shots.

That included Rory McIlroy, the world’s No. 1 player, who had a 70 to stay in the mix.

“It seems like half the tour has a chance to win this thing,” McIlroy said.

Tiger Woods was part of the other half. He made the wrong kind of history Saturday by making two double bogeys on par 5s for the first time in his career, leading to a 75 that matched his worst score at the TPC Sawgrass. Woods was 13 shots behind and chose not to share his thoughts on the day.

He at least was in good company.

Woods was part of an All-Star cast at the bottom of the leaderboard. The last 10 players have combined for 153 wins on the PGA Tour and 27 majors. The top 10 going into Sunday have combined for 23 tour wins and no majors.

Adding to the dynamic is that three players within two shots of the lead are at The Players for the first time.

“We had a little survey of the first-timers – `Who do you pick besides yourself to win?’ – and I picked Ben Martin,” Kisner said. “No, man, everybody talks about pressure and nerves and all that, but we’ve been through it all. If we’ve gotten here, we’ve done tour school, we’ve won tournaments. Just because it’s a bigger stage doesn’t mean we’re going to (stink) all of a sudden. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

It starts with Kirk because he’s the 54-hole leader at 10-under 206.

Then again, it might not.

Rickie Fowler, who survived a double bogey and three bogeys for a 71, was in the group three shots behind. He will have played six or seven holes on Sunday before the last group hits their first tee shot. Thomas hit 7-iron from 192 yards into 3 feet for his 10th birdie of the day on the 18th hole to tie Na and Kelly before they started.

“It was one of the best rounds I’ve probably ever played in competition,” Thomas said. “To do it at a stage like this and a field like this and a golf course like this, to get back in the tournament was big.”

Woods, who said he was one round away from narrowing the gap on the lead, widened it. He hit a smother-hook off the tee at the par-5 second hole that bounced off a tree and settled in the rough 105 yards from the tee. His other double bogey was on No. 9, where he took three hacks out of the rough-covered mounds to advance the ball some 60 feet. He made only two birdies.

Playing with Woods was Canada’s Graham DeLaet. The Saskatchewan native moved 15 spots up the leaderboard Saturday in large part to to a miraculous eagle on the par-5 9th.

McIlroy was in reasonable position, and coming off a victory in the Match Play Championship last week, was one player expected to make a move. He had one birdie and two bogeys over his opening eight holes, which was moving in the wrong direction.

But he steadied himself on the back nine and was only four shots behind.

It was easy to press. The leaderboard looked like a California freeway at rush hour. Kirk was going in the wrong direction when he missed a short birdie putt on the 12th, and made bogeys on the next two holes.

“I had a chance to sort of lose it a little bit today,” Kirk said. “But I didn’t let it bother me, and thankfully was able to birdie the next three to pull out a great round.”

And now he gets to do it one more time, with a $10 million purse and five-year tour exemption riding on the outcome.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Much like his entire career, Jerry Kelly was just another player on the golf course Friday at The Players Championship.

Tiger Woods kept the biggest gallery wondering how much longer they would see him when he flirted with missing the cut until he delivered a moment rarely seen of late. He made a putt that mattered, a 10-foot birdie that allowed him to stick around for two more days.

In the afternoon, Rory McIlroy made it easy on himself – by his standard at the TPC Sawgrass – with a dull round of 71 that kept him in contention. Dull can be good on the Stadium Course that meted out its share of punishment.

And the island-green 17th was wild as ever.

What most everyone missed was the 48-year-old Kelly carving up the front nine with five birdies that carried him to a 7-under 65, giving him the low round this week and share of the lead with Kevin Na.

“I enjoy adrenaline,” Kelly said. “I am 48. I know it almost ravages the body as much as it helps it as you start getting older, but I would like to hang out for another couple of days and have some fun with it.”

Kelly and Na, who settled down after a wild start for a 69, where at 8-under 136. Both have some history on this golf course.

Na was the 54-hole lead at The Players three years ago until he faded under intense scrutiny of serious swing issues.

Kelly had a two-shot lead over Woods in 2001 going into a final round that took two days to complete because of storms. Woods went on to win, and two weeks later he completed his grand sweep of the majors at Augusta National.

Fourteen years later, Kelly and Woods are in different roles.

“I figured I would have another chance at this golf course,” Kelly said. “I didn’t think it would be that long, but it’s just strange. This whole career has gone by in the blink of an eye.”

Kelly and Na were two shots clear of Rickie Fowler (69), Chris Kirk (68), Canada’s David Hearn (71) and Branden Grace (67).

Not much is left from all that star power on both ends of the draw at the start of the week.

McIlroy was in a featured grouping of the new generation, but the other two – Masters champion Jordan Spieth and Jason Day – now are old news. Spieth spent too much time trying to save par and finished with a meaningless bogey for a 72 to miss by three shots. Day started the second round tied with McIlroy and had two 7s on his card within four holes. He closed with a double bogey for an 81.

Phil Mickelson, who played in the group ahead of Woods, had two 6s and a 7 on his way to a 76 to miss the cut for the third straight year.

“I was thinking to myself as I was walking around, `I can’t believe I’ve actually won here,’ you know?” Mickelson said.

Woods, in his first start since he showed a remarkable short-game recovery at the Masters, hovered around the cut line most of the day until he got to the par-5 ninth for his last hole. He choked up for a soft pitching wedge to 10 feet, made the birdie and showed the kind of emotion he once reserved for big shots and big moments.

That gave him a 71 for even-par 144, making the cut on the number.

Given the nature of the Stadium Course, and the quality of the field, making the cut on the number means he was only eight shots out of the lead.

“I feel like I’m playing well enough to get myself up there,” Woods said. “I just need one good round and narrow up that gap between myself and the lead, and I feel like I can do that.”

Woods will be paired with Canada’s Graham DeLaet Saturday.

Na was a different player in 2012. He was vilified for his slow play, which he attributed to having the yips with his swing. He simply couldn’t take the club back, and there times that when he did, he would purposely swing over the ball so he could start over. It was difficult to watch. It was even harder on Na.

But he has battled through it and came into The Players at No. 22 in the world ranking.

“I think I’m mentally tougher because I had gone through that, and I’m a lot more happier,” Na said.

Fowler was poised to close in on the lead until his approach on the par-5 16th drifted too far right and went into the water for a bogey. Fowler bounced back with a birdie on the island green at the par-3 17th, and he had a 3-foot birdie attempt that fooled him on the 18th.

Even so, he was two shots behind and brings a little extra motivation with him. In a magazine survey of players, in which they didn’t have to give their names, Fowler and Ian Poulter tied with 24 percent of the vote for the most overrated on tour. Fowler has won twice worldwide and is No. 13 in the world, mainly on the strength of his four top-5 finishes in the majors last year.

“If there’s a time where I need something to kind of give me a kick in the butt, then I can think of that and it will put me in the right frame of mind to go out there and take care of business,” Fowler said.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The biggest star at The Players Championship was not Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth playing together in the morning. And it wasn’t Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods in back-to-back groups in the afternoon.

It was the TPC Sawgrass all day long in another round of big numbers, curious shots and endless entertainment.

Charley Hoffman was among four players tied for the lead at 5-under 67. He was thrilled with his eight birdies, the most of anyone Thursday. What turned a great day into a very good one was that triple bogey out of nowhere right after he made the turn.

How does one make a 7 on the usually harmless first hole?

“Pardon my French,” Hoffman began, before using a familiar English word not fit for print to describe all seven of his bad shots. In fairness, the seventh shot was good. He made a 4-foot putt to keep it from being an 8.

David Hearn of Canada, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Kevin Na also had 67. Each made only one bogey. It was boring, which never hurts around here.

McIlroy also had a boring round by his standards – two birdies, an eagle, one bogey for a 69. It’s a rare occasion when he’ll call that a good day.

“I think that’s what this course is all about,” McIlroy said. “It’s about staying patient. There’s a lot of pars on my card, but I was able to pick off a couple of birdies and a nice eagle on 16. I’m happy with the start, for sure.”

Spieth wasn’t so fortunate. He was 40 yards away from the green at the par-5 11th and used a wedge three times to get on the green. That doesn’t explain the horrible lie he had in the grass, followed by the lie in the sand just below the lip of the bunker. He shot a 75, matching his worst score of the year.

“Just a really, really poor day,” Spieth said.

Woods hit a tee shot on a par 3 that went into the water, which is not unusual. But it wasn’t on the island-green at the 17th. It was at No. 8, with a clunker that found a creek some 40 yards short of the green. Woods didn’t even know there was water on that hole.

“I’ve never seen it,” he said after a 73.

At least one player made a 7 or worse on 10 of the holes on the Stadium Course. Brooks Koepka made a 7 on the 17th by putting two balls into the water. And then he made an 8 on the next hole by putting only one ball in the water. He played the other 16 holes in 1 under.

The Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass holds a certain mystique after more than three decades. Even in reasonable conditions – warmth, sunshine and a little wind – no one fared better than a 67.

After 12 hours of theater that Sawgrass so often provides, they return to repeat the process.

There was more energy than usual for a Thursday morning, especially with Woods and Mickelson (73) playing in the afternoon. McIlroy is No. 1 in the world and coming off a win at the Match Play Championship, while Spieth became the de facto challenger with a dominant Masters win that moved him to No. 2 in the world.

They warmed up next to each other on the range. And it was clear from the start this day would be a solid one for McIlroy, not so much for Spieth. Along for the ride was Jason Day, who isn’t exactly on the B-list of rising stars. Day, who jokingly described himself as the third wheel, had a 69 with a double bogey on the 18th.

“I’ve got to beat those guys, but I think the biggest thing is not beating myself,” Day said.

Big numbers can be found anywhere, though. Hoffman didn’t see his coming.

“Obviously, you don’t ever want to take a triple, double, quad, whatever it is,” Hoffman said. “But at least I gave myself time to get them back. It’s better than doing it on the 72nd hole, I can guarantee you that.”

The 18th hole was no picnic after a long day. Mickelson hit the wooden plank and went into the water for a double bogey. He shot 73 with five birdies. Adam Scott wasted a reasonable start by finding water for a double bogey on the 18th. Woods hit into the water and made double bogey.

Two dozen players broke 70, while 76 players in the 144-man field were at par or better.

Spieth, who also had a 75 when he missed the cut at Torrey Pines, felt something wrong with his alignment when he arrived Monday, and he still hasn’t sorted it out. He got behind quickly, and that didn’t help. Most telling of his day was No. 11.

His second shot was left of the green in a grass bunker, the ball sitting so far down in the grass that Spieth walked up to it and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” With a full, powerful swing, he advanced it some 50 feet – from a regular lie, that shot would have gone 110 yards – to just under the lip of a bunker. It was another bad lie, and he only advanced the next one 18 feet to the collar.

“It’s just one of those days where I started maybe looking into it a little too much rather than just accepting it and going forward,” he said. “Just going to have to find some answers.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – With his feet positioned near wooden planks and his ball resting on the fringe at the treacherous island green, Tiger Woods tried to decide between bellying his sand wedge and toeing his putter.

He went with the iron.

Good call. It resulted in Woods’ most memorable – maybe even best – shot during the opening round at The Players Championship on Thursday.

Woods holed out from the edge of the daunting par-3 17th at the TPC Sawgrass, making a highlight shot that helped him shoot 1-over 73 in windy conditions. Woods ended the day six shots behind the leaders but feeling good about his game.

“Probably the highest score I could have shot today,” said Woods, who was over par in the first round for the fifth consecutive event. “I didn’t get much out of that round. I hit the ball better than the score indicates, and I got a couple good breaks and never took advantage of them.

“Just really struggled hitting the putts hard enough to get them to the hole. Even when I tried to ram them, I still didn’t get the ball to the hole, so I need to make a better adjustment on that.”

Maybe he should just go with the wedge.

It worked to perfection at the 17th.

His ball hit the back of the cut, rolled around and dropped. He smiled, tipped his hat to the raucous crowd and looked as if he had found a little something with back-to-back birdies that got him to 1 under as he walked to the 18th tee

But he failed to stay in red numbers on the final hole.

Woods took an aggressive line and found the water off the tee. He finished with a double-bogey 6.

“I tried to hit kind of a low, hard, cut 3-wood up there and just kind of bank it up against the wind,” he said. “I just tried to hit a low one, tried to get on top of it and I just happened to pull it just a touch. It was the right shape, the right height, but my start line was probably just a few yards left, which ended up costing me.”

It was one of just a few errant shots for Woods, who won The Players the last time he played in 2013.

He yanked his first two drives left, leading to a bogey at the par-4 first, and really turned heads when he shanked his tee shot at the par-3 eighth. His ball bounced into a water hazard he said he didn’t even know was there. He dropped and ended up with a double.

“It’s only one bad swing, one bad shot,” he said. “I had to fix what I had starting out the round more importantly. Eight just, I just happened to make a bad swing. So what, move on. But I had a bad pattern starting out and I rectified that, which was nice.

“I put together a pretty good round and until 18.”

Woods missed seven months across parts of last year while recovering from back surgery. He sat out two months this year to work on his game – particularly his chipping – after posting a career-high 82 in the Phoenix Open and withdrawing during the first round at Torrey Pines because of tightness in his back.

He has shown much better form since – especially with that nifty shot at the 17th.

“He looked all right,” said playing partner Adam Scott, who shot an even-par 70. “I haven’t played with him for a while. He hit a couple bad shots, but it was tough out there today. I hit a couple bad shots, too. I don’t think anyone made any putts in our group, scores were pretty good considering nothing was going in.”

Before every round Rory McIlroy plays on the PGA Tour, he goes through an extensive warmup routine. Here’s an all-access look inside what McIlroy is working on.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rory McIlroy turns into a different player when he tees it up at the TPC Sawgrass.

It’s not by choice.

McIlroy found out quickly that his free-swinging power game isn’t the best fit at The Players Championship. In three appearances, he never broke par. That’s when he decided to scale back his game and play a bit more conservatively.

He at least is making progress. After missing the cut three times in four years – he didn’t even bother playing the other year – McIlroy has a pair of top 10s. A year ago, he closed with a 69-66 weekend and tied for sixth, though he was never in contention.

“It’s always hard for me when I can’t get driver in my hand, because I feel like when I get driver in my hand I can give myself an advantage over the rest of the field,” McIlroy said. “It’s just about being very patient and approaching it a different way, winning a different way.”

The Players Championship begins Thursday with the strongest field in golf.

It also might be the most wide-open field in golf.

The PGA Championship is renowned for having the most players from the top 100 in the world ranking. It also has a few past champions (John Daly, Mark Brooks) and 20 club pros. What differentiates The Players is that everyone in the field is capable of winning. The last player in was 21-year-old Justin Thomas, who already has played in the final group on the weekend at three tournaments this year.

Martin Kaymer is the defending champion. Tiger Woods won the year before that. Those are multiple major champions. The list of champions at Sawgrass also includes Fred Funk and Henrik Stenson, Tim Clark and Fred Couples.

McIlroy recited a favorite line about the golf course. It favors no one and tests everyone.

It might not be the same feeling as Phil Mickelson winning the British Open on a links course, but McIlroy believes a victory in the so-called fifth major would make him a more complete player because it’s a different kind of golf that he prefers to play.

“Winning around this golf course would … I definitely have a feeling that if I was able to do that, I would be able to win a different way,” he said.

He compared it with Wentworth, where he had struggled until winning the BMW PGA Championship last year. Then again, it was a wet week in England and he was able to hit driver more than he normally would.

Asked to describe the course in one word, McIlroy wasted little time.

“Frustrating,” he said.

One-word answers from other players over the years have included “exciting” and “dramatic” and “challenging.” Geoff Ogilvy once took five days to find the right answer. He saw a reporter who had asked the question walking along the 14th fairway in the final round, walked over to him and said, “Annoying.”

One other word comes to mind for Thursday’s opening round: Anticipation.

Only this has nothing to do with the golf course.

Playing along McIlroy on Thursday morning will be Masters champion Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, who in this case might feel like a third wheel. McIlroy and Spieth have been the center of golf over the last few months – McIlroy because he is No. 1 in the world, Spieth as the Masters champion and No. 2 in the world.

A budding rivalry?

Not quite. Or at least not yet.

“He is as far ahead of me as I am with the next eight guys,” Spieth said, referring to the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 in the world ranking. “So with that being said, it’s kind of anybody’s game to get up and make it interesting with him. I just happen to be the one that occupies No. 2 right now.”

McIlroy responded to all the hype over Spieth and his green jacket by winning the Match Play Championship last week in San Francisco. He provided another answer to the chatter about a rivalry by practically yawning.

“Last year it was Rickie (Fowler). This year it’s Jordan, might be someone else, could have been Tiger,” McIlroy said. “There’s been four or five rivalries over the past year. So it doesn’t really do anything for me.”

He then borrowed a line that Jack Nicklaus once told Tiger Woods. Both had a revolving door of rivals over the years.

“As long as I’m one of them, the other can be whoever it is,” McIlroy said. “I don’t mind.”

Nearly forgotten in all this hype is Tiger Woods, who is playing for the first time since he resurrected his short game and tied for 17th at the Masters. Woods is playing in the afternoon with Kaymer and Adam Scott, a trio of champions at Sawgrass.

There is an urgency to find a new star, a new rivalry, in just about any sport. Perhaps this should serve as a reminder to slow down. A year ago at The Players Championship, McIlroy was No. 11 in the world and in one of his mini-slumps.

The No. 1 player? That was Woods, who now is No. 125.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Tiger Woods says he hasn’t been sleeping well because of what he calls a tough three days – his split with Lindsey Vonn and the anniversary of his father’s death.

Woods and the Olympic ski champion announced on Sunday they decided to end their relationship because of their hectic travel schedules. That was nine years to day that Woods’ father, Earl, died.

Woods says this three-day window through Tuesday – the anniversary of his father’s memorial service – is “brutal” on him. And he said the split with Vonn only adds to it.

He says he was rusty and tired playing a nine-hole practice round at The Players Championship.

Woods won the last time he was at the TPC Sawgrass in 2013. He missed last year while recovering from back surgery.

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.