Padraig Harrington went from the rank to the sublime demonstrating impeccable timing,albeit in a different guise, for which he had been searching this week at La Costa. Swing thoughts should be forgotten in celebration of a staggering recovery that saw him pickpocket Angel Cabrera on the first tie hole of the WGC Accenture World Matchplay second round contest last night.

It was a rescue act of gargantuan proportions; even Lazarus might have balked at this one. Two down with three to play and struggling to master an errant game — two over the card at that juncture — he finished
with three consecutive birdies, holing from 30 feet, 27 feet and, crucially on the home green, a wonderful, character-laden clutch putt of six feet down the slope.

Even that doesn’t convey the magnitude of his achievement. On the closing hole, Harrington had struck a drive and a three wood to a couple of yards short of the front apron at the par five. Cabrera had nailed his five wood second and left it eight feet from the pin. The Irishman chipped six feet past trying to hole, but he would maintain it created a chink in his opponent’s armour.

“I think I managed to put some doubt in Angel’s mind. I don’t think he was fully committed over the putt and babied it as a result because he thought he probably had two for the win.” They hole was halved in birdies, but Cabrera’s body language bespoke the missed opportunity. He bunkered his second at the first tie hole and couldn’t get up and down, eventually conceding the match.

Harrington eschewed any euphoria, happy in the manner of his victory, but still troubled. “I am between swings at the moment. It’s something I’m working on and not going to fix. I was two down after 12 and he should have closed out the match.

“At that stage I just knuckled down to getting the ball in the hole rather than thinking about other things. I had chances on the next couple of holes and felt I had a chance although I wasn’t feeling as good at two down with four to play. My putting was excellent, but in fairness I played well through that stretch.” It included a punched six iron under a tree at the 17th that pre-empted his birdie. “I don’t think I have ever played Vijay in this format, but I have come up against him in a couple of play-offs. The record? 1-1.”

Robert Allenby might have been tempted to mutter, ‘are you Stephen Ames in disguise’, after a couple of holes of his second round match over the La Costa layout, but it’s not good to trash-talk Tiger Woods. It’s probably bad karma to even think ill of the world number one. Woods’ 9 and 8 thumping of Ames on Wednesday included seven birdies, but yesterday the gasps were audible as the American racked up a couple of bogeys in as many holes to hand his Australian opponent an early two hole advantage.

Still, you don’t amass the type of matchplay record at this event (22-4) as Woods has mustered in being fazed by an early hiccup. Ultimately, the American would show himself to be the ultimate competitor nervously rolling in a six-foot birdie on the home green to win, one up.

Allenby will rue a couple of opportunities that went abegging, not least the 17th, where his birdie putt finished one roll short. After watching Woods put his second shot to the last in the left hand trap, the Australian, from the fairway pushed his three wood right and could not get up and down, a feat that his opponent achieved.

Allenby was a model of orthodoxy, producing nine straight pars to the turn, but at that juncture Woods had chipped in a couple of birdies to reset the match on an even keel. The Australian was first to blink on the back nine, eventually forced to concede the 10th to a par, as world order had been resumed.

Anyone expecting Allenby to collapse isn’t well versed with the gritty Australian although he was handed a respite on the 13th green when his opponent missed a four foot putt. At the next Woods appeared in a little trouble when finding the bunker with his second shot but extricated the ball quite beautifully, coming to rest inches from the pin. The Australian’s birdie on 16 restored centre of the cup on the 17th was to prove pivotal to the outcome.

The Tom Lehman story continues unabated, the American Ryder Cup captain once again demanding the plaudits for his on course exploits. This time it was Adam Scott that was forced to bow the knee.

In a tightly contested encounter Lehman demonstrated a steely core to outlast his opponent in a match that produced some of the best golf on the day. The pair had swapped a couple of holes in the posturing stage of proceedings, but on the sixth the American received a fillip when he holed his second shot at the par four for an eagle.

The protagonists traded birdies on eight and nine, Lehman birdied 10 to go two up and they both managed that feat at the next. On the 12th the American couldn’t manage a regulation figure but was able to nurse that one hole lead all the way home, holing excellent clutch putts on the final two greens.

It proved a good day for defending champion David Toms and the man he beat in last year’s final Chris DiMarco. Toms recovered from two down to beat Jose Maria Olazabal, a run of three successive birdies from the 14th, enough to guarantee his progression and representative of the quality that he produced throughout the tournament 12 months ago.

“I had to play really, really well at the end. I made a few birdies to come out on top. He’s a grinder and has a great short game. He’s never out of any hole and doesn’t give you too much so I had to go out and earn it.”