Ian Poulter was fast closing in on a place in the final of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship - and the World Number Five spot - in Tucson.
Poulter stood a massive six up on Spain's Sergio Garcia with only eight holes to go.
But fellow Englishman Paul Casey found himself involved in his first tough match of the week in the other semi-final, being one down to Colombian Camilo Villegas after eight holes.
All four players had to cope with monsoon-like conditions for the best part of an hour early in their matches.
Garcia and Casey both opened with double bogey sixes in the rain, wind and cold, while at the 208 yard third Garcia had a semi-shank into the lake and Casey made an even bigger hash of the hole.
The sixth seed's tee shot was so badly mishit that it travelled little more than 100 yards. He was even short of the water, but then pitched into it and, like Garcia, lost the hole to a bogey four.
Play had been held up for nearly 15 minutes just before, but on the resumption Poulter took the next three holes as well and after losing the seventh finished the front nine with back-to-back birdies and started for home with yet another.
Casey was two down after three, but his opponent bogeyed the seventh and the Surrey golfer looked set to play the closing stretch for the first time all week.
In the morning quarter-finals Casey made Open Champion Stewart Cink his fourth successive 5 and 4 victim - and left America without a semi-finalist for the first time in the 12-year history of the event.
That meant that there were four European Tour Members contesting the semi-finals.
"I have no idea what's happening," said Casey. "I know how tough Stewart is. He has a great record in match play.
"I never thought we would be standing here (by the 14th green) talking. I thought it would go all the way. I'm very happy, but shocked."
Cink, second and then third in the event the last two years, jokingly showed his conqueror where the 15th tee was. He has not needed to go there yet.
"I saw a great display," said Cink, whose only success came when Casey drove wildly into the desert on the long 11th and had to take a penalty drop.
Poulter came back from one down on four separate occasions to defeat Thai Thongchai Jaidee with a seven foot par putt on the final green.
It might have been an all-English semi, but Oliver Wilson lost 4 and 3 to Garcia, while Villegas beat an off-form Retief Goosen by the same margin.
Poulter, who went out in the semi-finals to David Toms in San Diego five years ago, said: "It was difficult out there - the wind started to blow around that back nine and it started to get very, very cold."
Worse was to come, though. Far worse. But thankfully it did not come when the afternoon matches were coming to their climaxes.
