Rory McIlroy scored a one-stroke victory over Tiger Woods at the Jinsha Lake Golf Club in central China in an exhibition one-on-one match.
The current world number one McIlroy shot a 5-under 67, to hold off the challenge of the former No. 1 player in the world by one shot. Woods finished with a 68.
It was the first one-on-one exhibition game between the two champion golfers. They played head to head without any other competitor.
Woods, however, feels that he still has a lot of opportunities to avenge his defeat.
"This is certainly not like most Mondays," Woods said. "To have this many people come out and watch us play golf in an exhibition was something special.
"This doesn't happen. As far as doing something like this down the road, it would be fun."
The appearance fees for Woods and McIlroy were reported to be $2 million and $1 million respectively.
Woods said his rivalry against McIlroy was interesting for fans of golf, similar to the ones between Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic which makes tennis very exciting.
"If you look at the history of the game, it's not like other sports where the guys play against each other all the time. Jack (Nicklaus) and Arnold (Palmer) didn't go at it that often. But you know what, if we can do this for the next 10, 15 years, then certainly we can have that type of rivalry.
"I think having matches like this to promote the game of golf is what it's all about. We're trying to promote the game of golf in this region and it's come a long way since my first time here 11 years ago."
McIlroy, who had lost to Peter Hanson in the European Tour's BMW Masters in Shanghai on Sunday, was pleased with his victory over Woods.
"It's been a nice distraction to not dwell on what happened yesterday," the Northern Irishman said. "I let a great chance to win a golf tournament slip through my fingers. Coming to do something like this today has definitely made it a little easier to deal with."
China has attracted many top golfers over the years with lucrative exhibitions to popularize the sport. Monday witnessed a grand extravaganza with planes and helicopters buzzing overhead and Rolls Royce's ferrying the players to the course.
However, many seemed skeptical if all this would really make the sport popular.Michael Wong, the vice editor-in-chief of China's Golfweek magazine, said: "The bosses here maybe want to sell the villas so they introduce two big stars to come here. It's a show more than a game."
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