Australian Jason Day has stormed into the semi-finals for the second year running after winning his quarter-final match against South African Louis Oosthuizen at the World Golf Championships Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain.
World No.11 Day prevailed 2 and 1 against the No. 35 ranked South African in a quality contest.
Day clinched the match on the 17th green with a par after holding the lead from the fifth hole.
He is now just two wins away from a $US1.53 million ($A1.70 million) payday and would catapult to world No.4 if he claimed the trophy.
The Queenslander will now play American Rickie Fowler who beat countryman Jim Furyk 1-up.
Day’s quarter-final started in bizarre fashion after Oosthuizen hit his opening tee ball into the desert and after a failed attempt to get back to the fairway conceded the hole giving Day a 1-up lead after hitting just one shot.
But he quickly found himself 1-down two holes later after the 2010 British Open champion made two straight birdies Day couldn’t match.
Not deterred the 26-year-old promptly claimed the fourth and fifth holes to take the lead again and then doubled the advantage with a birdie on the ninth.
Had he not lipped out a short three-foot putt on the eighth his lead would be even stronger.
A clutch 13-foot par save for a half on the 10th preserved his lead before he claimed the 11th to push out to a healthy 3-up advantage.
His only blemish came on the par five 13th when an unruly fan yelled and clapped in his backswing on approach forcing a pulled shot into deep rough and a resulting bogey dropped the lead to two holes.
Day then matched Oosthuizen’s birdies on 14 and 15 to remain in control and the South African couldn’t overhaul him in the closing holes.
In the remaining quarterfinals Ernie Els leads Jordan Spieth 1-up through 11 holes and Victor Dubuisson leads Graeme McDowell 1-up through 10 holes.