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

Rory McIlroy lived up to his billing as the world No. 1 at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play final, defeating Gary Woodland 4 and 2 to take home the title. 

McIlroy never trailed, winning Nos. 4-7 to race out to a four-hole advantage and shooting birdies on Nos. 5-8. Woodland would win holes Nos. 11 and 12 to draw closer, but McIlroy won No. 14 and was even on the next two holes to win after the 16th. 

Woodland hurt himself throughout, and his five bogeys in the contest came back to bite him in the end. But McIlroy was pretty brilliant at times as well, and PGA Tour on Twitter passed along some of his highlights from the championship round:

After, McIlroy talked about his conquest, per Golf Digest on Twitter:

He was excellent in his semifinal as well, namely down the stretch, though Jim Furyk wasn't about to bow out without a fight. But McIlroy simply had a different gear than Furyk, shooting four under on the final three holes, including an eagle on No. 18 to win 1-up. 

As Justin Ray of the Golf Channel noted, it's rare for the world's top-ranked player to advance to the final:

McIlroy took an early 1-up lead on the third hole, which Furyk bogeyed. The lead was fleeting, however, as McIlroy bogeyed No. 4 to set the match square again. 

But McIlroy stole the lead back with a birdie on No. 5 and remained 1-up on Nos. 6 and 7, where Furyk matched his par and birdie, respectively. Here's McIlroy's birdie on No. 7:

Furyk then pulled even again on No. 8 with a birdie of his own and took a 1-up lead on No. 9 after McIlroy bogeyed the hole. 

McIlroy's birdie on No. 11 squared the match again, however, and he took the lead again on No. 12 after Furyk double-bogeyed. But Furyk refused to go away, pulling even on No. 13 with a birdie and taking the lead on No. 15 with a birdie. 

Here's McIlroy's impressive putt on the 11th:

Both players would birdie the 16th, and Furyk had a 30-foot birdie attempt on No. 17 to ensure he went into the final hole one hole up. But he pushed it just to the left, and McIlroy was able to birdie the hole, setting up a tense No. 18. 

Here was McIlroy's clutch birdie on No. 17, per the PGA Tour on Twitter:

Indeed, McIlroy saved his best for last, as he would eagle the 18th to seal the win on an epic 44-foot putt.

That set up the championship match against Woodland, who defeated Danny Willett 3 and 2 in the other semifinal, though he was coming up against a buzz saw in McIlroy. As Golf Digest on Twitter noted, you should expect nothing less from McIlroy than what he showed late against Furyk:

McIlroy's victory over Woodland capped off a long Sunday. McIlroy opened the day by defeating Paul Casey in their first playoff hole of the day (the 22nd hole of the match in total) after their contest from Saturday was called due to darkness.  

"I really just wanted to try and get it done as early as possible," McIlroy said after his quick victory over Casey, per The Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). 

Indeed, ending that match quickly likely helped in the mentally grueling semifinal against Furyk. In the end, it was simply McIlroy's day.

And his tournament, at that.