BELEK, Turkey — Rory McIlroy was knocked out of contention on a rain-lashed day at the World Golf Final Wednesday and can only hope to restore pride when he tackles Tiger Woods in Thursday's third round. The pair were due to meet Wednesday, but the encounter was pushed back a day after a fierce electrical storm began lashing the Atalya Golf Club in Belek, Turkey, forcing afternoon play to be abandoned. In any case, McIlroy cannot progress to the semifinals of the seven-million-dollar event after losing his second match to former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. McIlroy's level-par round of 71 left him a stroke behind the South African, the Northern Irishman having already left organizers red-faced after losing his first-round encounter to American Matt Kuchar. In a near duplication of the final round of the 2011 Masters, Schwartzel birdied three of his closing four holes to come from behind to beat McIlroy before the rain came down Wednesday. “I played a bit better than Tuesday but then Charl birdied three of the last four holes and you can't really do much about that,” said McIlroy, who is assured of a $300,000 prize check even if he loses to Woods, while a win would see him presented with $450,000. “So in my match now against Tiger, I will be out to get back a bit of pride and at least leave here winning one match. “It will be exciting to play against him as he still has the chance to go through, so he will be looking to win his match.” Woods, meanwhile, shot a four-under-par 67 to defeat Ryder Cup colleague and world No. 15 Kuchar by five strokes. In other round two matches Wednesday morning, Justin Rose defeated fellow Englishman Lee Westwood with a round of 66 to Westwood's 69. Reigning US Open champion Webb Simpson recorded his first win in the event and left Hunter Mahan winless with a score of 65 to Mahan's 67. The threat of thunderstorms forced all the scheduled afternoon matches to be pushed back to Thursday. The leading two players in each group will advance to the semifinal. The fifth- and sixth-place finishers will each receive $450,000, while seventh and eighth receive $300,000. Woods eyes European Tour Tiger Woods will consider joining the European Tour after changes are made to membership qualification. The European Tour is expected to announce soon that participation in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and Seve Trophy will count toward the 13 events needed for tour membership. Woods said he last looked into joining the European Tour in 2000 when the requirement was 11 events. He said: “I will again look at it.” — Agencies
