Swede Henrik Stenson conjured a miracle escape from one down after 16 holes to steal victory against Australia's Nick O'Hern in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship quarter-finals on Saturday.
Stenson triumphed one up with an astonishing par at the last to join holder Geoff Ogilvy of Australia, South Africa's Trevor Immelman and American Chad Campbell in the final four at the opening World Golf Championships (WGC) event of the year.
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U.S. Open champion Ogilvy hammered Arizona-based Briton Paul Casey 5&4, Immelman crushed Britain's Justin Rose 5&4 and Campbell edged out Canada's Stephen Ames one up.
Stenson, in trouble off the 18th tee when his drive ended up in a bush, had to take a penalty drop but struck a brilliant third shot with a wedge from a dirt track to within three feet of the flag.
O'Hern, who knocked out world number one Tiger Woods in the previous round, was short of the green in two, chipped up and lost the match when he missed a four-foot par putt.
"That was unbelievable, I've never experienced anything like that," Stenson told reporters after levelling a roller-coaster encounter when his opponent bogeyed the par-five 17th.
"We both played well and it was a good match, going back and forth."
Immelman, in red-hot form with his putter, never looked back after losing the opening hole and sealed victory with a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-three 14th.
"I'm really happy to play that way," said Immelman, who had not gone beyond the second round in his previous three appearances at the event.
The dapper South African dominated against Rose after his three-putt par at the first was trumped by a Rose birdie.
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He hit a superb approach to within four feet of the flag at the par-four second, rolling in the birdie putt to level the match, and sank a 29-footer at the fifth to go one up.
Boosted by four birdies in a row from the seventh, Immelman stretched his lead to three before losing the 11th to a Rose birdie.
He then tightened his grip by winning the 12th and 13th before sealing victory on the 14th green.
In the bottom match, Ogilvy took advantage of some erratic driving by Casey to forge three ahead after seven holes.
Casey hooked his tee shot into desert scrub before losing the par-four fourth, trailed by two after Ogilvy birdied the fifth and also lost the sixth after again driving into the Arizona desert.
Although Casey claimed the par-three eighth, where Ogilvy missed the green to the right off the tee, he immediately gave it back after taking two shots to escape from a greenside bunker at the ninth.
Ogilvy went four ahead with a birdie at the 12th before ending the match on the par-three 14th where Casey bogeyed after being bunkered off the tee.
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Ames struggled early on against Campbell, bogeying the par-three third after failing to reach the green off the tee and also the fourth, where he three-putted.
Although he levelled by sinking a 10-footer to birdie the fifth, he again trailed by one after taking two shots to escape the left greenside bunker at the par-four seventh and Campbell retained the upper hand for the rest of the match.