Top surviving seeds Rory McIlroy (2) and Lee Westwoood (3) are through into the last eight at the WGC-Accenture Match PLay Championship, but Martin Kaymer, the 4th seed, didn't make it.
Matt Kuchar; the only one of last year's four semi-finalists still standing
Westwood, who had never gone beyond the second round in his 12 previous starts, had the cool, calm and confidant look of a multiple winner and was never headed as he marched on to his 3&2 victory over American Nick Watney, the second-round destroyer of Tiger Woods's come-back hopes.
McIlroy, in the meantime, quite comfortably dealt with Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez's hopes of pulling off a second successive upset following his ousting of Sergio Garcia on Friday, the Northern Ireland 22-year-old also winning 3&2.
Kaymer, who, in the previous rounds had looked quietly threatening, followed Luke Donald, the man who beat him in last year's final, out of this knock-out tournament being played at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club in the Arizona desert county at Dove Mountain, Marana, when he was thumped 4&3 by Matt Kuchar, one of the three Americans to make it into the last eight and the only one of last year's semi-finalists still standing.
The others are Hunter Mahan and Mark Wilson, who both pulled off upset victories, ironically over fellow Americans.
In a day of continuing shocks Mahan whipped Ryder Cup team-mate and seed No 5 Steve Stricker 4&3 and Wilson just as easily beat big-hitting Dustin Johnson, one of the impressive early starters here, by the same margin.
Kuchar, the World No 14, was the first player to reach the quarter-finals, giving nothing away after he initially had to come back from one down after three holes, partly because Kaymer always struggled to find any consistency on the heavily contoured greens at Dove Mountain.
"Matt played very consistently," Kaymer said afterwards. "He didn't make any mistake really, but unfortunately I made a few.
"I hit a lot of good quality golf shots today, especially on the first nine. I didn't miss any golf shots really, but I just couldn't make the putts."
Westwood, who like McIlroy, would go to the top of the world rankings if he wins Sunday's final, was delighted to beat Watney, having lost to the American in the second round of this event in 2010 and again last year.
"I knew it was going to be a tough match against Nick," the Englishman smiled. "It was nice to not make that hat-trick and to win, get through to tomorrow and see what happens on the weekend."
McIlroy didn't find his entry into the last eight quite as easy as expected.
The US Open champion had to wait until the 17th green before wrapping up his 3&1 victory over Jimenez - though he could have been out of sight at the turn had he backed up the exquisite accuracy of his irons with a putting performance to match.
He missed twice from inside five feet and did not make a birdie until the seventh, but another at nine took him three up at the end of a ragged front-nine display from Jimenez.
A couple of duffed chips allowed Jimenez to cut the gap to two at the 11th, but McIlroy retained his advantage and sealed victory with another sublime approach to the 17th green.
"I hit some really good irons," said McIlroy, who next meets the dark horse of the tournament, Sang-moon Bae of South Korea.
Bae, who earlier knocked out 2010 winner Ian Poulter and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, continued his remarkable debut in the tournament as he clinched yet another, tense one-hole victory, this time over Australian John Senden.
But getting back to McIlroy; he said: "I'm not saying I played terrible the first two days, but it wasn't like my best.
"I definitely saw a glimpse of my best golf out there today. I was really pleased when I had to hit good shots coming down the stretch, I was able to produce them," added McIlroy who is also bidding to become the youngest ever winner of the Match Play Championship, Tiger Woods having set the record at 27 with his 2003 victory..
A super hot Mahan had no trouble with the greens as he piled up nine dazzling birdies in the bright sunshine, the last of them conceded by Stricker from just two feet at the driveable par-four 15th to end their third-round encounter.
"I felt good with my game," said Mahan, who will face yet another American in Kuchar in Saturday morning's quarter-finals.
"Irons, driving, everything, putting, chipping ... I just had a lot of confidence in it.
"Boy, it's nice to get off to a good start and get ahead early. I just played solid from there and made a nice little bomb (a 560 foot putt) on 12," "That was a momentum changer."
In the all Scottish duel US-based Martin Laird beat his older adversary, Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open champion, 3&1 while Swede Peter Hanson, another dark horse who is quite capable of coming in under the radar, brought the number of Europeans in the quarter finals to four, one more than the Americans in this year of Ryder Cup golf.
Hanson advanced with a crushing 5&3 win over the more than capable American Brandt Snedeker.
ALL THE THIRD ROUND RESULTS:
Martin Kaymer (Ger) lost to Matt Kuchar (USA) 4 & 3
Steve Stricker (USA) lost to Hunter Mahan (USA) 4 & 3
Lee Westwood (Eng) bt Nick Watney (USA) 3 & 2
Peter Hanson (Swe) bt Brandt Snedeker (USA) 5 & 3
Mark Wilson bt Dustin Johnson 4 & 3
Martin Laird (Sco) bt Paul Lawrie (Sco) 3 & 1
Rory McIlroy (NIrl) bt Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 3 & 1
John Senden (Aus) lost to Bae Sang-moon (Kor) 1 down
THE QUARTER-FINALS DRAW
1005 Peter Hanson (Swe) v Mark Wilson (USA)
1020 Matt Kuchar (USA) v Hunter Mahan (USA)
1205 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) v Bae Sang-moon (Kor)
1220 Lee Westwood (Eng) v Martin Laird (Sco)
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