SAN FRANCISCO -- Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel each won their second-day matches, setting up a Friday showdown for a place among the final 16 players at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play.
McIlroy, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, dispatched Brandt Snedeker 2-up at Harding Park to run his round-robin record to 2-0.
Horschel, the reigning FedEx Cup champion, is also 2-0 after a 3&2 victory over Jason Dufner.
"Looking forward to playing McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world, and see what happens,'' Horschel said. "Obviously we have a track record against each other. And seems like when we play against each other, we play our best. So I would expect a very well-played match tomorrow.''
Horschel's history with McIlroy goes back to the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland, where McIlroy was a pudgy 18-year-old and had been low amateur at the Open Championship.
Over two days, Horschel beat McIlroy two out of three times -- once with Rickie Fowler as his partner -- and got under McIlroy's skin with his boisterous demeanor. Horschel was 20 at the time and playing at the University of Florida.
Both say any differences were long ago put to rest.
"Fortunately, he's mellowed considerably since then,'' McIlroy said.
The two also dueled for last year's Tour Championship and FedEx Cup titles, with Horschel prevailing.
"I did what I needed to do against Brandt today,'' said McIlroy, who has not make a bogey over the first two days. "I felt like I played very solid tee to green and made a few birdies. That's nice. The match tomorrow, it's win or go home. So it's back to the usual format.''
The Match Play went to a three-day round-robin format this year with the winners of each of 16 groups advancing to Saturday.
Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen, who played off for the 2012 Masters, are also 2-0 in pool play and will square off Friday for a right to advance to Saturday's round of 16 players.
Among those who have been eliminated from advancing to the weekend are likes of Graeme McDowell, 2014 runner-up Victor Dubuisson, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ian Poulter.
If two players end up with the same record in group play, the player who won their head-to-head matchup advances to the round of 16. If three players tie with 2-1 records, there will be a sudden death playoff Friday.
