Rory McIlroy acknowledged he will have to be at his best on Friday to see off former Walker Cup foe Billy Horschel after moving to within one win of the last 16 at the WGC – Cadillac Match Play with a two up win over Brandt Snedeker.
Having seen off Jason Dufner on day one, McIlroy led against former FedEx Cup winner Brandt Snedeker from the moment he holed a 35 foot birdie putt form off the green at the first.
Snedeker birdies on the 11th and 12th briefly restored parity, but McIlroy converted from 15 feet on the 15th and five feet at the last to set-up a showdown with Horschel, whose 3 and 2 win over Dufner was also his second victory in as many days.
“It's going to be good - Billy seems like he's playing well,” said McIlroy, who won one and lost one of his singles contests against Horschel at the 2007 Walker Cup, which the US won by a single point.
“I did what I needed to do against Brandt today. I felt like I played very solid tee to green and made a few birdies; that's nice.
“The match tomorrow, it's win or go home, so it's back to the usual format.
“It's basically a chance, we've won our first couple of matches, a chance to get into the last 16.
“If you don't win you go home. So it's do or die tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Dutchman Joost Luiten’s chances of reaching the weekend suffered a blow as he went down to Hideki Matsuyama, with the Japanese player recording a second win in Group 16.
South African Charl Schwartzel is on course for the last 16 after maintaining his 100 per cent record with victory at the 20th hole against Dustin Johnson, with Paul Casey also two from two after eliminating Adam Scott.
In Casey’s group, Francesco Molinari suffered a first defeat at the hands of Chris Kirk, with the two former Ryder Cuppers meeting on Friday.
"Luckily I am in control of my own destiny but I feel like I need to pick it up a little bit," Casey said. "It's been okay but needs to get better."
Scotland's Marc Warren missed out on a wonderful opportunity to reach the last 16, as Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Graeme McDowell suffered early exits.
Poulter and McDowell could have few complaints after suffering their second defeats of the group stage, but Stenson was unfortunate to see his win over Brendon Todd rendered meaningless.
Australian John Senden had already defeated Bill Haas in group three to advance regardless of the result of his match with Todd on Friday. A defeat for Senden and a Stenson victory over Haas would see both men with a 2-1 record, but Senden would go through due to his win over Stenson on Wednesday.
A similar scenario had earlier seen Rickie Fowler become the first man into the last 16, the American beating Shane Lowry thanks to holing a string of lengthy putts on the closing stretch.
Warren had defeated World Number 12 J B Holmes in his opening group match and knew victory over Brooks Koepka on Thursday, coupled with Holmes beating Russell Henley, would see him advance.
The 34 year old looked certain to fulfil his side of the bargain when he birdied the 15th to move three up with three to play, only to bogey the 16th and 17th to hand Koepka a lifeline.
Warren also three-putted the par five 18th for par as Koepka got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie to take the match into extra holes, the American then repeating the feat to halve the 19th hole before a third birdie in succession on the next secured a remarkable win.
That left Warren needing to beat Henley on Friday and hope Holmes gets the better of Koepka, which would result in a play-off with Warren, Koepka and Holmes - who beat Henley on the 19th hole - all having a 2-1 record.
Defending champion Jason Day also crashed out after losing to South African Branden Grace, but Justin Rose kept his hopes alive after birdies on the 18th and 19th to beat Anirban Lahiri.
"It's taken me 37 holes to get any lead in this championship," said Rose, who was never ahead during his opening loss to Marc Leishman, which came just three days after winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
"It was a hard-fought battle and at least I have a chance of getting into a three-way play-off."
For that to happen, Rose needs to beat Ryan Palmer and hope Lahiri beats Leishman.
