Tommy Fleetwood put his opening defeat to Ian Poulter firmly behind him as he kept his WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play hopes alive with a stunning 7 and 6 win against Kevin Chappell.
Race to Dubai champion Fleetwood got off to a shaky start as he lost the battle of the Englishmen on Wednesday but it was a different story on day two as he won the first four holes to establish a commanding early lead.
A birdie at the fifth saw Chappell halt his opponent's progress but Fleetwood took the seventh and ninth holes to head to the back nine with a five-hole lead.
Fleetwood fired a birdie at the short 11th to go six up before Chappell's concession at the 12th handed him his first victory of the week.
The Englishman said: "I was really poor yesterday and was disappointed in myself.
"I mean, Ian did what he needed to do and he played really solid. On a personal sort of level, I was disappointed with my performance.
"Today was better. I got off to that really good start. I gave him a couple of holes and then managed to stay ahead.
"I did play really solid today. It's difficult in the wind and I think sometimes you don't realise how difficult it is just because it's match play and you are trying to beat one other person."
Fleetwood and Chappell now have one win each in Group 9 after the 31 year old beat fellow American Daniel Berger on day one.
But match play specialist Poulter was the man to catch at the top of the group after he beat Berger 2 and 1 to maintain his 100 per cent record.
After halving the first in birdie threes, Poulter won the next three holes on the bounce to go three up after four holes.
Both players made birdies at the fifth before Berger won the eighth to reduce the deficit to two holes.
But Poulter bounced back in style, winning the ninth to take a three-hole lead into the turn.
Berger put up a good fight, making a birdie two at the 11th to close the gap to two holes once again.
If you win your matches you're going to go through, and that's the simplicity of this form of match play - Ian Poulter
The American also made birdies at the 12th and 13th but Poulter matched him blow for blow in a high-quality contest before going on to win by two holes with one still to play.
Poulter said: "It's a great start. You need to do that in this format. It's so easy to get complacent.
"So, yeah, if you win your matches you're going to go through, and that's the simplicity of this form of match play.
"Get the job done, win your match, you will advance."
Defending champion Dustin Johnson crashed out after losing 4 and 3 to Adam Hadwin in Group 1 - his second successive defeat following yesterday's 3 and 1 loss against Bernd Wiesberger on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Wiesberger was brought back to earth with a bump on Thursday as Kevin Kisner beat him 5 and 4.
Despite drawing first blood at the second hole, the Austrian was heavily beaten after Kisner won the third, fourth, fifth and sixth holes to go three up before taking the 11th and 12th to claim a straightforward victory.
Group 8 could not be tighter after two matches, with all four players locked on one point each.
A spectacular back-nine comeback saw Jason Dufner beat Jason Day 3 and 1, while James Hahn saw off Louis Oosthuizen by the same scoreline in the group's other match.
Ross Fisher beat Zach Johnson by two holes in Group 16, while Matt Kuchar saw off Yuta Ikeda by one hole.
Fisher, who was fighting to stay in the tournament following Wednesday's defeat to Ikeda, got off to a disappointing start and found himself two down after three holes.
But he won the fourth, sixth and eighth holes to go one up, before Johnson won the ninth to level things up.
Fisher made a stunning start to the back nine, making birdies at the tenth and 11th to go two up before Johnson reduced the deficit to one at the 15th.
But Fisher held on to win by two holes.
He said: "I knew it was going to be tough. Zach is a great player. He's a very gritty competitor.
"We both played pretty solid. It was a nip and tuck. He got two up early and I got back to two up. He fought back and I managed to close it out."
