Robert MacIntyre and Victor Perez will go head to head at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play after both men continued their stunning debuts by advancing to the last 16 at Austin Country Club.
MacIntyre had won his opening match in Group One before sharing a thrilling half with World Number One Dustin Johnson on day two, with the duo entering the final batch of round robin matches locked together on 1.5 points.
Johnson had been in the box seat throughout Friday afternoon but Kevin Na won the 17th and 18th to defeat the Masters Tournament champion and leave the door ajar for MacIntyre in his clash with Adam Long.
The Scot needed no second invitation to go through it, putting a remarkable tee shot on the par four last to three feet for an eagle, a half and a place in the last 16 after being three down at the turn.
"It's massive for my confidence and it's massive for going forward," he said of advancing from a group containing Johnson. "It's something that I was trying to do from the get-go before we teed off. I was trying to get out of the group. I had to play him at some point.
"But today was massive for me. I was three down through nine and (caddie) Mike (Thomson) gave me a shake on the tenth tee, like, 'come on, we've got to keep fighting here'.
"That's something that I normally always have inside me but my head was down through nine and I didn't know where to go. But we just kept giving ourselves chances and it just so happened to turn around at the right moment.
"I had probably one of the best and one of the luckiest golf shots I've hit in my life (on the 18th).
"I had a bit of bad luck here and there and managed to turn it around right at the end there and it's one of them things you've just got to keep fighting until the end. It just shows anything can happen in this game."
Perez had also started his week with a win against Marc Leishman but defeat to Russell Henley on day two left all four players in group 16 on one point heading into Friday.
The Frenchman was taking on Sungjae Im and he quickly stamped his authority on the match, putting approaches to inside seven feet on the first, second and third to move three up.
Im birdied the fifth and seventh to cut the gap but bogeyed the next and Perez played another beautiful approach into the tenth to lead by three again.
The 28-year-old found water on the 12th and Im birdied the 13th as things tightened up again but a birdie on the 16th left Perez two up with two to play and he sealed a 2&1 victory.
There was an anxious wait as Henley and Leishman finished their match but the duo shared a half to send Perez through.
"Very happy with today," he said. "Sungjae is a great player. He's shown that the last couple of years, obviously winning on the PGA Tour and having some great results and finishing second at the Masters. Obviously he's been upcoming and playing really well. I knew it was going to be a tough match.
"I got off to a great start, gave a few away, got back into it, gave a few away and got a little tight towards the end but I'm really happy with how I finished 16 and 17."
