Sweden's Peter Hanson was all square with Mark Wilson, his third American opponent in four games, after six holes as the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship reached its quarter-final stage in Tucson.
Hanson, who had beaten Jason Dufner and Brandt Snedeker as well as South Africa's Ernie Els, found himself behind for the first time this week when he bogeyed the opening hole.
But the 34 year old Ryder Cup player halved the next four and levelled after both had missed the green at the short sixth. Wilson chipped to eight feet and missed, then Hanson sank his seven foot par putt.
If he reached the last four, Hanson was certain to be up against another of the home contingent as Ryder Cup teammates Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchar were facing each other. After five holes Mahan was two up thanks to bogeys from Kuchar at the third - he was in the water off the tee there - and fifth.
No Americans had made it through in the bottom half of the draw. Instead England's Lee Westwood took on Scot Martin Laird and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy met Korean Bae Sang-moon.
Those two games were later in the day and raised the possibility of former stablemates McIlroy and Westwood, each needing to win the title to take the World Number One spot off Luke Donald, doing semi-final battle on Sunday morning.
Hanson and Wilson were still locked together at the turn, Hanson making a three foot birdie putt at the ninth to cancel out Wilson's 12 footer on the previous green.
Kuchar, though, was in real trouble after further bogeys at the sixth and seventh put him four down to Mahan and already four over par for his round.
McIlroy made the perfect start, holing from eight feet for birdie on the first, but found the water at the third and allowed Bae to level with a par three.
Westwood was behind for the first time in the tournament when Laird made a six foot opening birdie putt and then had to get up and down from sand on the next to stay only one down after Laird was on the green in two and two-putted for another birdie.
Hanson had only himself to blame for falling two down, driving into the desert scrub on the tenth and 11th, while Kuchar's misery continued when he lost the ninth to an 18 foot birdie putt and the tenth when he went over the green and had his fifth bogey. Mahan led by six.
