Rory McIlroy produced a big finish to his round on Thursday

Rory McIlroy birdied his final two holes to beat US Ryder Cup man Hunter Mahan 1 up in the second round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona.

Northern Ireland's world number 17 will meet Tim Clark in the third round after the South African shocked Tiger Woods 4&2 on Thursday.

McIlroy was two down with six to play before producing a marvellous comeback.

The 19-year-old won the 13th and 14th to level and he completed the match with four straight threes.

McIlroy holed putts of 10 and 20 feet on 17 and 18 respectively, to wrap up victory.

"I was standing on 13 at two down, but I dug deep and played my best golf when I had to which was satisfying," said McIlroy.

The Dubai Desert Classic champion joked that he was "not disappointed" at having missed out on a clash with Woods, although he was careful to add that Clark would present him with a "tough" test.

"It was either going to be Tim or Tiger, and I've got Tim, so I just have to go out and play the match.

"It's probably going to be a tough one because you have to play well to beat Tiger, and obviously Tim did that."

After being two down after 12, the Irishman birdied the 13th to reduce the deficit and was at all square after 14 when Mahan bogeyed the par four.

The decisive blow came at 17 when McIlroy holed out from 11 feet for birdie to take a one-up lead and then sealed victory over Mahan by sinking an 18-foot putt at the 18th.

That he will be facing Clark and not Woods was "probably a good thing", McIlroy said.

"I'll be the first to say if I stood on the first tee with Tiger I would be intimidated because he has been a hero of mine for the past I don't know how many years."

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