Tiger Woods fell to a shock final-hole loss against outsider Lucas Bjerregaard in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play quarterfinals on Saturday.
The 14-time major winner was riding high after defeating Rory McIlroy in the previous round, increasing hype around his Masters hopes, but lipped out with a short putt at the last as Bjerregaard won 1up.
Woods had been two to the good through six and still had a one-hole lead teeing off at the 16th, but after chipping out of a green-front bunker at the last he failed to sink his putt for a half. That handed an unlikely victory to world number 52 Bjerregaard, who will now face Matt Kuchar after his intriguing tussle with Sergio Garcia, in which the Spaniard endured another moment of madness.
The 2017 Masters champion narrowly missed a putt on the seventh green and Kuchar was ready to concede, with the ball just a few inches from the cup, but Garcia had quickly followed up and swiped a rushed attempt around the lip.
It all happened too soon for Kuchar to have formally conceded, meaning Garcia lost the hole and fell two behind. He did not recover from that, losing the next hole to rub salt in the wound as his frustration remained evident.
Despite Garcia initially narrowing the gap with a strong finish, which included three birdies from the 13th to the 16th, Kuchar prevailed 2up.
Francesco Molinari enjoyed far more serene progress to a last-four meeting with Kevin Kisner.
Despite losing the first hole, the Open champion thrashed Kevin Na 6 and 5.
Meanwhile, Kisner was a 2 and 1 winner over Louis Oosthuizen, who led after 14 holes.
McIlroy self-destructs
Earlier in the day, 14-time major winner Woods was three up after 11 holes but looked set to be pegged back to all square by the 16th, only for McIlroy to lose his head and surrender all the momentum.
Woods won back-to-back holes with birdies at the fifth and sixth as McIlroy's putting frailties began to show. Both saw birdie opportunities at nine pass them by following excellent approaches, but it was at the next hole that McIlroy appeared to lose his grip on the contest.
After conceding Woods' short par putt, McIlroy was made to play his from no more than three feet – and he lipped out, leaving him three down.
McIlroy finally showed signs of life when he narrowly missed a chipped eagle attempt at 12, with Woods conceding the short putt and missing his own birdie effort to give one back.
High winds and heavy rain then began to play a part, Woods sending a wedge long and failing to recover as suddenly the momentum was with McIlroy, who halved the deficit.
Woods recovered well from a wayward tee shot at the 15th before driving into the lip of a bunker at 16, but McIlroy endured a worse nightmare that proved pivotal.
His approach was short and wide, while his third shot raced through the back of the green and he took a drop from his original lie on the front edge of a bunker, scuffing it into another sand trap before conceding the hole.
A stunning Woods up-and-down birdie on the penultimate green finally put the contest to bed.
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