Alex Noren continued his excellent form at Austin Country Club with a 5 and 4 win against Thomas Pieters at the WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play.
The 35 year old won four of his last five holes to beat Kevin Na 4 and 2 on Wednesday and picked up straight where he left off, moving five up after ten holes against Pieters.
The Belgian would claw a hole back but a seventh birdie of the day on the 14th gave Noren a convincing victory in Group 13 and meant Pieters would be heading home on Friday despite playing the 14 holes in two under.
Noren will now face Tony Finau in a winner-takes-all clash on Friday after the American beat countryman Na 3 and 2.
Ryder Cup partners Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed will also face off to see who wins Group 4 after wins over Li Haotong and Charl Schwartzel respectively.
"I had the best day on the greens ever today," said Noren.
"I kind of like it's very direct, it's only one guy going through. You have got to win it all and it makes it very clear in your mind and you go out and try to win it. Today I needed to get a win.
"Tony is such a good player, I've played a lot with him this year. He hits so long and is very consistent as well. I need to play as well as I did today, probably."
Noren hit a stunning approach to seven feet to win the first before a lovely tee-shot into the par three fourth left the Swede a 22-footer for birdie and he was soon two up.
An approach to tap-in range on the par five sixth produced a fourth birdie of the day and a tee-shot to five feet on the par three seventh brought a fourth birdie in a row, with Noren was already beginning to look out of sight at the turn.
A 33-foot putt on the tenth had Noren five up and while Pieters birdied the 13th after driving the green on the par four, a 19-footer on the next sealed the deal.
Finau won his first three holes against Na with pars and while his countryman eagled the sixth, he made mess of the next to concede the hole before bouncing back on the ninth.
Finau re-established his cushion on the tenth but Na won the 12th and 14th to get back in it before Finau pulled away, winning the 15th and 16th.
Li fell behind on the first after bunker trouble and while he got back level on the second after Spieth went out of bounds, a Spieth birdie on the fifth gave him an advantage he would not relinquish.
The duo traded the seventh and eighth and did the same on the ninth and tenth but a Spieth birdie on the 13th and par on the 14th had him three up, with Li conceding the 16th to lose 4 and 2.
The clash between Reed and Schwartzel was even more of a see-saw affair with just three halved holes in the 18.
Schwartzel got up early but Reed hit back before the 2011 Masters champion won three in a row before the turn to go two up.
Reed hit back on the tenth and 11th and while Schwartzel edged back ahead, three in a row from the American had him back in the driving seat.
Schwartzel won the 16th to take the match up the last but after getting a lucky bounce off the tee, Reed hit the pin with his second and a tap-in birdie gave him a one up victory.
