Rory McIlroy at WGC-Cadillac Match Play 2015: Score and Reaction from Wednesday

Rory McIlroy opened up pool play at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco in style on Wednesday, defeating Jason Dufner 5 and 4 to win the first of his three matches in round-robin play. 

McIlroy simply played steadier golf on the day than Dufner, as he posted a birdie on No. 1 and promptly followed it up with 13 straight pars. Dufner wasn't on his game, meanwhile, as he bogeyed Nos. 3, 8, 9, 10 and 14 in a disappointing showing from the golfer. 

After, McIlroy talked about the importance of his victory, per WGC-Match Play on Twitter:

McIlory still has a lot of golf ahead of him, however. Under the tournament's new format, golfers were split into 16 groups of four players, with round-robin play taking place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The top player from each group then advances to the round of 16 on Saturday, where elimination play begins. The quarterfinals also take place Saturday, while the semifinals and finals take place Sunday.

That means McIlroy has at least two more matches left, though if he wins his group he'll be playing into the weekend, something that may conflict with other plans the golfer had made, per Ashley Clements of the Daily Mail:

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Rory McIlroy is going the extra mile to ensure he's at ringside for Saturday's mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas. The world No. 1 will be playing in the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship in San Francisco this weekend, but will make the 570 mile trip to the MGM Grand before heading straight back after the fight. 

This will mean, if McIlroy is still around after the quarter-finals of the Championship on Saturday, the sports fan will fly by private jet to the fight, before completing the 1,140 mile round-trip in order to get up early for the semis the following morning.

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Not a bad life, right?

McIlroy has to ensure he's still alive by that time in the tournament, of course. After one day of round-robin play, little is guaranteed for the golfer, especially on an afternoon where he played well but wasn't spectacular by any stretch. 

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

McIlroy may need to be better if he is to get past Brandt Snedeker on Thursday and Billy Horschel on Friday, though one more win may be enough to get him through. If he does advance, he'll face the winner from Group 16 in the round of 16, which is comprised of Hideki Matsuyama, Kevin Na, Joost Luiten and Alexander Levy.

One would imagine he'll need to sprinkle a few more birdies into his score to advance through this tournament, however. Of course, if he's out of commission by Saturday night, at least he won't have to rush back to San Francisco after the big fight.