MARANA, Ariz. >> Rory McIlroy was walking down the stairs toward the driving range when he passed Lee Westwood and gave him the same message he had delivered earlier Saturday in the Match Play Championship.

“See you in the morning,” McIlroy said with a big smile. “Just like I told you.”

In 14 years of this fickle tournament, there has never been a semifinal match so compelling.

McIlroy had another surge on the back nine to put away Bae Sang-moon, 3 and 2. Moments later, Westwood finished off Martin Laird by the same margin, setting up today’s showdown with more at stake than just a spot in the championship match.

If either McIlroy or Westwood goes on to win the Match Play Championship, they would go to No. 1 in the world.

“I think with both of us being up there in the world, and both of us with the possibility of going to No. 1, it gives the match definitely an extra little bit of spice,” McIlroy said.

The duel was not lacking spice in the first place.

They were stablemates at International Sports Management until some testy exchanges last year.

Shortly after McIlroy shot 80 in the final round of the Masters to blow a four-shot lead, Westwood got under his skin by saying the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland “has a pull hook in his bag under pressure.” But it was McIlroy who was the first to win a major, setting records at Congressional on his way to an eight-shot win in the U.S. Open.

Later in the year, when McIlroy left Chubby Chandler at ISM, Westwood tweeted that it was a bizarre move. McIlroy quickly un-followed Westwood and Chandler on Twitter.

Both players say their relationship is no different than with other golfers. They don’t spend as much time together, understandable because they no longer have the same manager.

“There’s nothing strained about the relationship between the two of us. It’s still the same as it was,” Westwood said. “Rory said to me before I went out, ‘See you tomorrow morning.’ And then today again there, he said, ‘See, told you.’ That’s the trouble with kids nowadays. They think they’re always right, don’t they?”

“I think it’s the match that most people wanted, and definitely the match that I wanted,” McIlroy said.

The other semifinal match today features Hunter Mahan and Mark Wilson, assuring an American will make it to the final for the first time since Tiger Woods won in 2008.

Mahan played the shortest quarterfinal match in the 14-year history of the event by beating Matt Kuchar 6 and 5. Wilson, gaining more respect the deeper he goes in the bracket, had an easy time in his 4-and-3 win over Peter Hanson of Sweden.

Wie finishes 59th in Singapore

Honolulu’s Michelle Wie continued her struggles at the HSBC Women’s Champions 2012 played at the Tanah Merah Country Club Garden Course today in Singapore, shooting a final-round 3-over 75 to finish at 22-over 310.

For the 72-hole tournament, Wie carded only four birdies to place 59th in the field of 60 finishers. She had 21 bogeys and two doubles for the week. She returns stateside to complete her degree next month at Stanford before returning to the LPGA Tour for the Kia Classic the last week of March.

The fourth round was suspended with the leaders on the final hole at press time.

Fujikawa finishes 24th in eGolf event

Hawaii’s Tadd Fujikawa shot a final-round 75 Saturday to finish at 1-over 286, good for 24th place in the eGolf Tour’s Oldfield Open in Okatie, S.C.

Chris Naegle of Chesterfield, Mo., fired a 68—273, winning the tournament by three strokes over Gator Todd of Simons Island, Ga.

Fujikawa won $1,997.

Summerhays leads Mayakoba Classic

Daniel Summerhays shot a 4-under 67 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead over Chris Stroud in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Summerhays had a 12-under 201 total on the windy, seaside El Camaleon course.