Ernie Els scored tight victories over Scott Drummond and Angel Cabrera Friday to stay on course for a record sixth World Match Play title.
Els defeated Drummond 2 and 1 in a first-round match that was completed early Friday. He then slipped by Cabrera in a quarterfinal 1-up.
In two other quarterfinals completed on Friday, Padraig Harrington edged Thomas Levet 1-up, and Lee Westwood defeated Retief Goosen 2 and 1.
The fourth quarterfinal was called by darkness with Miguel Angel Jimenez leading Bernhard Langer 3-up after 28 holes in the 36-hole match.
Saturday's semifinals at Wentworth just outside London have Els against Harrington and Jimenez or Langer facing Westwood.
Els needed just one hole to finish off Drummond in the first-round match suspended by darkness Thursday after a 2 1/2-hour rain delay.
He trailed by one stroke after 18 against Cabrera, but forced his way back and won 1-up with a birdie at the par-5 18th.
Els, ranked No. 2 in the world, drove poorly in the first 18 against Cabrera, highlighted when he went out of bounds twice at the long 17th. But it got better on the second 18.
"This afternoon I started swinging like I wanted to. I've been working on something in my takeaway, snatching at it a little bit. Only now is it starting to click in with my body," Els said.
The day's big upset came in the first-round match, when Langer ousted the world's top-ranked player Vijay Singh on the first playoff hole -- the 37th.
Langer said he victory over Singh reminded him of "that old Bible story when little David beat Goliath."
"He's No. 1 in the world and I'm somewhere in the mid-70s. He was the hot favorite."
Langer birdied the first extra hole, the 571-yard 17th, by reaching the green with a drive and 3-wood and then two-putting from 8m. Singh missed the green and his third shot finished 6m away.
In beating Ryder Cup teammate Levet, Harrington sustained an injury when his right hand hit a tree on the follow-through from a shot in the rough on the 27th hole.
He had it bandaged and was unable to swing freely for the rest of his round.
"I thought I had loads of room. How I got my hand to the tree I don't know," Harrington said.
Earlier at the third hole, Harrington broke his 4-iron when it struck a tree on the follow-through. It was repaired and returned to him at the 7th.
All four Americans in the field, and Canada's Mike Weir, lost in the first round.
The first-round losers all left with ?60,000. Losing quarterfinalists won ?80,000 and the winner Sunday receives ?1 million (US$1.8 million), billed as the biggest prize in world golf.
Chrysler Classic
Brent Geiberger used a heat wrap to quell his ailing hip and shot a bogey-free 67 Friday to give him a one-shot lead after the second round of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro
His 11-under 133 was one shot better than 2001 PGA champion David Toms (65), Tom Pernice Jr. (68) and journeyman Jeff Brehaut (66).
"It's only Friday," Geiberger said. "It's one of those things you just don't get too caught up in, especially with the holes coming in. You start thinking about other things, you can make a 6 or a 7 out here in a hurry."
At 144th on the US PGA Tour money list, he needs a good week to avoid returning to qualifying school for the first time since 1996. Geiberger's lone career victory came at Hartford in 1999 -- the only previous time he played in the last group on a weekend -- and injuries have hampered him the past two years.
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