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Rory McIlroy drawn alongside American trio in WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship

DORAL, FL - MARCH 05:  Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland watches a shot on the tenth hole during the first round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Ch
Image: Rory McIlroy: American trio set to test world No 1 in San Francisco

Rory McIlroy has been drawn alongside American trio Billy Horschel, Brandt Snedeker and Jason Dufner for this week’s new-look WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship in San Francisco.

Under the tournament's new format, the current top 16 in the world rankings were each placed in a different group, and the remaining three players were drawn from pools depending on their current rankings.

There will be round-robin matches between the four players in the group between Wednesday and Friday at TPC Harding Park, with the winners advancing to face off in a World Cup-style format.

World No 1 McIlroy will start against 53rd seed Dufner, who won the 2013 PGA Championship, on Wednesday before taking on Snedeker, the 35th seed and 2012 FedEx Cup winner on Thursday.

The Northern Irishman will then round off his Group 1 campaign against 18th seed and last year’s FedEx Cup champion Horschel on Friday.

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The winner of the group will face the victors of Group 16, which is headlined by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and also features American Kevin Na, Dutchman Joost Luiten and Alexander Levy of France.

Masters winner Jordan Spieth, ranked second in the world, has been paired with Lee Westwood, Matt Every and Mikko Ilonen - who was the last player in the field of 64 after Phil Mickelson's late withdrawal for personal reasons.

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Justin Rose, sixth in the world following his victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday, will be up against Ryan Palmer, Anirban Lahiri and Marc Leishman.

Group 4 sees Bubba Watson paired with Louis Oosthuizen, Keegan Bradley and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Ian Poulter, who has a 22-12 record in match play, is in Jimmy Walker's group along with Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland, while Paul Casey, 16-9 in match-play, is in Adam Scott's group with Chris Kirk and Francesco Molinari.

Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry feature in Group 13 along with Rickie Fowler and Harris English.

Defending champion Jason Day of Australia is in Group 7 with Zach Johnson, Branden Grace and Charley Hoffman.

Spanish 10th seed Sergio Garcia has been drawn in an all-European Group 10 with Jamie Donaldson, Bernd Wiesberger and Tommy Fleetwood.

Draw (seedings before name):

Group 1: 1-Rory McIlroy (NIrl), 18-Billy Horschel (USA), 35-Brandt Snedeker (USA), 53-Jason Dufner (USA)

Group 2: 2-Jordan Spieth (USA), 26-Lee Westwood (Eng), 40-Matt Every (USA), 62-Mikko Ilonen (Fin)

Group 3: 3-Henrik Stenson (Swe), 23-Bill Haas (USA), 42-Brendon Todd (USA), 60-John Senden (Aus)

Group 4: 4-Bubba Watson (USA), 29-Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), 33-Keegan Bradley (USA), 63-Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp)

Group 5: 5-Jim Furyk (USA), 17-Martin Kaymer (Ger), 44-Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), 59-George Coetzee (Rsa)

Group 6: 6-Justin Rose (Eng), 22-Ryan Palmer (USA), 34-Anirban Lahiri (Ind), 56-Marc Leishman (Aus)

Group 7: 7-Jason Day (Aus), 24-Zach Johnson (USA), 38-Branden Grace (Rsa), 49-Charley Hoffman (USA)

Group 8: 8-Dustin Johnson (USA), 21-Victor Dubuisson (Fra), 37-Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), 58-Matt Jones (Aus)

Group 9: 9-Adam Scott (Aus), 25-Chris Kirk (USA), 36-Paul Casey (Eng), 64-Francesco Molinari (Ita)

Group 10: 10-Sergio Garcia (Esp), 30-Jamie Donaldson (Wal), 39-Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), 54-Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)

Group 11: 11-Jimmy Walker (USA), 27-Ian Poulter (Eng), 46-Webb Simpson (USA), 50-Gary Woodland (USA)

Group 12: 12-JB Holmes (USA), 19-Brooks Koepka (USA), 45-Russell Henley (USA), 51-Marc Warren (Sco)

Group 13: 13-Rickie Fowler (USA), 32-Graeme McDowell (NIrl), 47-Shane Lowry (Irl), 55-Harris English (USA)

Group 14: 14-Matt Kuchar (USA), 31-Hunter Mahan (USA), 41-Stephen Gallacher (Sco), 61-Ben Martin (USA)

Group 15: 15-Patrick Reed (USA), 28-Ryan Moore (USA), 48-Danny Willett (Eng), 57-Andy Sullivan (Eng)

Group 16: 16-Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), 20-Kevin Na (USA), 43-Joost Luiten (Ned), 52-Alexander Levy (Fra)

Watch the first day's action at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship live on Sky Sports 4 from 9pm on Wednesday.

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