Ross Fisher sealed a place in the quarter-finals of the WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play and a spot at the Masters Tournament following a composed display at Austin Country Club.
Fisher needed to reach the last eight at this event to ensure a berth at Augusta, which begins in just under two weeks, and he managed to do just that with a solid 4 and 3 victory over Bubba Watson.
He will face Hideto Tanihara for a place in the semi-finals after he defeated 2009 and 2010 finalist Paul Casey with a 2 and 1 success.
Watson began the match with a birdie on the first to go one up following a great 329-yard drive but Fisher responded with a gain of his own at the next after sinking a 14-foot putt.
The Englishman took the lead for the first time at the third after a bogey from the American but he restored parity with his second birdie of the round at the fifth.
A Fisher bogey at the seventh handed the initiative to Watson but back-to-back blemishes from the World Number 17 at the eighth and ninth nudged the 36 year old back in front.
A 21-foot putt for birdie put Fisher two up at the 11th before his advantage extended to three up following a Watson bogey at the 13th, with a superb chip-in from the greenside bunker at the 15th securing the passage to the quarter-finals for the World Number 53.
Fisher said: “I felt like I played solid. Bubba is a great champion. He threw everything he had at me. I came out on top and I'm looking forward to this afternoon's golf.”
A quarter-final clash against Dustin Johnson is waiting for Alex Noren after he came out on top in the battle of the perfect records with a 3 and 1 win over Brooks Koepka.
Bubba is a great champion. He threw everything he had at me. I came out on top and I'm looking forward to this afternoon's golf - Ross Fisher
The American bogeyed the first to hand Noren the lead before another Koepka blemish extended the advantage to two up after five holes. He replied with his first birdie to reduce the gap at the fifth and went back to all square at the sixth following a Noren double-bogey.
The Swede regained a one up lead at the seventh after Koepka hit his third bogey of the round before a birdie at the turn put Noren two up.
Koepka's second birdie of the match reduced the gap but Noren hit back with a run of par-birdie-birdie starting at the 11th to put him three up,
with the World Number 24 replying with a gain at the 14th.
The duo parred the 15th and birdied the 16th to leave Noren at dormie two before his plumb tee-shot landed five feet from the pin with Koepka conceding with his ball in the hazard.
Noren said: “I think it's amazing. Usually you don't really look at your opponent. You play your game. Here you have to react to what he does and stuff like that.
“It was a very fun day. We both played pretty nice and I managed to hole some important putts.”
Tanihara is making his debut at the event held in Texas but he started his match with Casey in positive fashion with a nice approach to four feet to earn a birdie at the first to go one up but quickly gave that up with a bogey at the next.
A Casey bogey at the fifth re-established Tanihara's lead and the World Number 60 went two up when the Englishman found the sand on the par three seventh.
Tanihara bogeyed the eighth and tenth to return to all square and relinquish his solid start against the World Number 16 but regained the upper hand when Casey found water from the tee at the 11th.
A birdie from Casey drew the scores level at the 13th but successive gains at the 16th and 17th sealed Tanihara's place in the last eight.
“The wind was blowing the other way, so it was hard to judge the second shots and the pin positions were not easy,” Tanihara said.
It was a very fun day. We both played pretty nice and I managed to hole some important putts - Alex Noren
“But I guess at the end I was able to get the two birdies and was able to win the match at the end.”
World Number One Dustin Johnson eased into the afternoon's quarter-finals with a comfortable 5 and 4 success over Zach Johnson.
He won the opening hole for the fourth day in a row with a birdie to gain an early lead against Zach Johnson and doubled his advantage at the third when his opponent found the water.
Zach Johnson cut the deficit at the next with a birdie two at the par three fourth before Dustin Johnson established a four up lead at the turn with a run of birdie-par-par-birdie from the sixth.
Both men hit double-bogey at the 11th before Zach Johnson carded a birdie at the next to garner some slight hope of a comeback but Dustin Johnson's successive gains at the 13th and 14th earned him victory.
