McIlroy one win away from top spot after defeat of Westwood

Rory McIlroy pulled off a remarkable win over Lee Westwood in Tucson today and was left needing to beat American Hunter Mahan to become world number one for the first time.

The two European stars met in the semi-finals of the Accenture Match Play Championship and Westwood, also with the chance to dethrone Luke Donald at the top of the rankings, went three-up after only four holes.

In 60 previous games during the week only two players had come back from such a deficit to go through, but McIlroy became the third with a thrilling display.

Westwood opened the door by bogeying the fifth and asking McIlroy to hole from two feet for par there appeared to fire Ireland's US Open champion into action.

He birdied three of the next four to turn one up and then had three more birdies in a row from the 11th.

Westwood was able to match only the first of them, so found himself three down. He then produced an 18-foot eagle putt after driving the green on the 343-yard 15th, but missed from similar range at the next and conceded defeat after bogeying the 17th.

Mahan, meanwhile, beat compatriot Mark Wilson 2&1 in a game overshadowed by the clash between the second and third seeds, also stablemates until McIlroy made what Westwood called a "bizarre decision" to leave in October.

Westwood and McIlroy insist there is no bad blood between them over the split - or Westwood's comment when the 22-year-old blew The Masters last April that "when he gets under a bit of pressure he's got a pull hook in his bag."

Two months later, of course, McIlroy captured his first Major title with a record score and by an eight-stroke margin. Westwood remains without a Major at 38 - and without a World Championship victory either.

McIlroy knew Mahan presented a tough hurdle in the 18-hole final, though. He has been a member of the last two American Ryder Cup teams and was the player, of course, whose defeat to Graeme McDowell at Celtic Manor two years ago gave Europe a nail-biting win.

He was also the only one of the four quarter-finalists who had a World Championship to his name and he was never behind to Wilson, who bogeyed the first and failed to match his opponent's birdie four on the next.

Mahan did have one horrible shank at the fifth, but needed only a par to take the seventh and he matched Wilson's two birdies - the first of them a chip-in - at the start of the back nine.

Wilson got back to only one down when Mahan bogeyed the short 12th, but he was bunkered on the 15th and Mahan's seven-footer took him two in front once more.