By Jeremy Harness

Rory McIlroy roared back from a late deficit to move on to Saturday’s round of 16. Meanwhile, Keegan Bradley and Miguel Angel Jimenez roared at each other.

The top-seeded McIlroy, who had never had the lead in regulation and was two holes down to defending FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel heading into the 17th hole, rolled in three straight birdies to extend the match into extra holes.

Down the stretch, the difference was the short game and the putter. After hitting two good shots, Horschel had a chance to close it out at the par-5 18th by getting it up and down for birdie from just off the green. However, he hit a poor chip shot and missed his lengthy birdie putt while McIlroy two-putted for his birdie to extend the match.

Horschel again hit a great drive and hit his second shot just off the green into the rough on the first extra hole while McIlroy wound up 20 yards right of the green after his second shot. However, he hit another bad chip that left him a long putt for birdie, which he missed. However, McIlroy missed his birdie putt as well to extend the match.

The difference in short game skill sealed the deal at the ensuing par-3. McIlroy wound up in the greenside bunker while Horschel left his shot in the thick rough on the left side of the green, with an angle that forced him to hit a difficult flop shot.

While Horschel saw his pitch run far past the hole and failed to get up and down, McIlroy hit a beautiful sand shot that checked up only three feet from the hole, which he easily converted to punch his ticket to the next round.

“I think over the last three days, I’ve only made one bogey,” McIlroy said. “So if guys are wanting to beat me, they’re going to have to make birdies on holes, and (I’m) just not giving holes away. I think that was very important.”

While the best player in the world is moving on, the second-best player is not. Lee Westwood spoiled things for Jordan Spieth on Friday, beating the defending Masters champion and a player who rolled through the first two rounds this week, 2-up.

“I had nothing to lose,” Westwood said. “Jordan’s arguably the best player in the world right now. I’m pleased with the way I played and got through.”

Said Spieth after the round: “No complaints. It’s just a challenging group, and it’s match play. What are you going to do? I’m excited about the way I’m playing.”

Bradley and Jimenez also made things interesting around the course on Friday, but it didn’t have nearly as much to do with golf. In an otherwise-meaningless match between two guys that entered Friday with 0-2 records this week, there was a disagreement regarding the kind of drop that Bradley needed to take after an errant shot at the 18th.

While a rules official was on hand to give a ruling, Jimenez made his way over to the area to give his opinion. He then got into a disagreement with Bradley’s caddie and, at one point, told him to “shut up.”

At that point, Bradley got into Jimenez’s face, and it appeared that there was a strong possibility of a physical confrontation, but the two eventually separated.

Jimenez eventually won the hole – and the match – but that was rendered unimportant.

“It’s very rare when you’re getting a ruling with a rules official standing there to have another person kind of interject and be very over-the-top accusatory,” Bradley said. “He’s a great player out here, but I have to be able to stick up for myself when I feel like something’s wrong.”

Said Jimenez: “I think my intention was to be helpful, that’s it.”