Sunday 25 March 2018 23:18, UK
Justin Thomas is one victory away from becoming the world No 1 after he cruised into the semi-finals of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin.
Thomas followed up his last-16 thrashing of Si Woo Kim with a 2&1 victory over Kyle Stanley in the quarter-finals, and a win over Bubba Watson on Sunday would see him dethrone Dustin Johnson at the top of the world rankings.
But Ian Poulter's hopes of another Match Play title were ended by a disappointing 8&6 defeat to Kevin Kisner, and the Englishman is now expected to miss out on qualification for the Masters by the narrowest of margins.
Bubba Watson won four straight holes after the turn as he saw off Kiradech Aphibarnrat, while Alex Noren continued his superb form with a comfortable 4&2 win over young Australian Cameron Smith.
After a 2&1 win over Louis Oosthuizen in the last 16, Poulter was initially told he had done enough to break into the world's top 50 when the rankings are updated on Monday, which would have guaranteed him a place at Augusta National.
But Poulter was then informed he was projected to move from 64th to 51st unless he beat Kisner, although he refused to blame the mix-up on his performance as he was unable to make a single birdie in his last-eight clash having made eight in his win over Oosthuizen.
The first two holes were halved in pars, but Poulter then three-putted the third green before being forced to concede the fourth after pulling his tee shot into deep trouble in the bushes on the left.
Kisner won the next two holes with birdies and made it five wins in a row when Poulter bogeyed the seventh, and the 2010 champion found himself six down at the turn as Kisner converted his precise pitch to three feet.
The American also won the 10th with a par, and the contest concluded two holes later when Poulter's ambitious second from a fairway bunker veered left and landed in the water hazard.
Watson had earlier become the first player through to the semi-finals with a confident 5&3 win over Aphibarnrat in a match that was all-square at the turn before the Thai star's game unravelled.
Aphibarnrat bogeyed 10 and 11 and failed to match Watson's birdie at the long 12th, and the two-time Masters champion rolled in another birdie putt from eight feet at the 13th to win his fourth hole in a row before closing out victory on the 15th green.
Kisner wrapped up his win over Poulter moments later, and he will face Noren in the last four after the Swede further enhanced his Ryder Cup credentials with a convincing triumph over Smith.
Noren won three of the first six holes with birdies, although he then gave the Aussie a lifeline with back-to-back bogeys which trimmed his advantage to just one hole heading to the back nine.
But Smith flew the green at the short 11th and failed to get up-and-down, and Noren's birdie at 13 restored his three-hole lead before the Australian got into trouble at 16 and did not come close to finding the birdie he needed to extend the encounter.
Second-seed Thomas then completed the line-up for Sunday's semi-finals as he recovered from an erratic start against Stanley, who was one up after five holes.
Thomas turned the match around with birdies at six and eight, although Stanley hit back with a birdie at the ninth before mistakes at two of the next three holes, either side of a Thomas birdie at 11, gifted the reigning FedExCup champion a three-hole advantage.
Stanley gave himself hope with a winning birdie at 13, but Thomas matched him shot-for-shot over the next four holes to book an intriguing clash against a resurgent Watson.
