Padraig Harrington doesn't normally finish a round of golf physically bloodied and mentally battered. Yesterday, though, was no ordinary day in the leafy stockbroker suburbs of London.

For the world's number eight- ranked golfer, it was a day of extraordinary happenings which resulted in him inadvertently smashing his hand into a tree in mid-round and led to him finishing his quarter-final match HSBC World Matchplay Championship with Thomas Levet as if he were "using a shovel rather than a golf club" to hit the ball.

In the end, though, Harrington did scrape home, winning his 36-holes match with Levet by one hole to set up a semi-final tussle today with world number two Ernie Els, who is seeking his second hat-trick of titles in the Matchplay over Wentworth's West Course.

The incident with the offending tree a few yards off the ninth fairway (the 27th hole) was bizarre, made more so by the fact that, earlier in the day, Harrington had bent the shaft of his four-iron on the third hole of the morning's round when hitting a tree with his follow-through.

On that occasion, it necessitated his father-in-law Dermot Gregan rushing the club to the repair unit for a new shaft and grip.

However, the second incident was to prove much more serious. More conscious of not connecting with the tree on his back-swing, Harrington - who at the time was three-up on the Frenchman having seen a six-hole lead dwindle over the preceding stretch of holes - hit the trunk with his follow-through. This time, it wasn't a club shaft that was damaged; it was his hand.

The impact could be heard all around as the golfer's face registered pain and shock to indicate its seriousness: the skin on his thumb was shredded and the digit immediately swelled.

Although running repairs were conducted by medical personnel on the course, Harrington had to resort to "poking and prodding" the ball for the remainder of the match where it was testimony to his true grit that he succeeded in getting the job done.

As for being fit for the semi-final with Els? "I anticipate it's going to be good," said Harrington, albeit with a degree of hope rather than any conviction. He received further medical attention last night.

When asked how bad it would have to be for him not to be able to face Els, he replied: "Cut it off? Or, I suppose, if it was broken, I wouldn't be able to play."

On a day when Harrington had played some magnificent golf - he had produced no fewer than 10 birdies over the opening 18 holes in establishing a five-hole lead over Levet at the interval, completing them in an approximate 63 - the injury overshadowed everything. But Harrington said he never contemplated stopping playing. "I was feeling sorry for myself but there was never any question of not going on. I've done worse. I've gone out in far worse condition and played golf," he said, referring to old neck and elbow injuries.

However, the difference about this injury was that it produced blood and was inflicted mid-round. At first, he thought the damage was nastier. "There was a lot of pain and I was worried it was actually broken . . . I had to ice it pretty quickly but I struggled for any feeling in the thumb after that. The pain was pretty sharp. I couldn't put my tee peg in the ground or repair pitch marks. There was pain with any downward pressure, but that was only half the problem because I was also aware of my right thumb in the grip and that's the last thing you want to be doing. You just want it to be there and comfortable."

Indeed, where beforehand Harrington had played sublime golf and that missed fairway on the 27th was one of few blemishes, he could hardly hit a proper golf shot afterwards. This was highlighted by his drive on the 12th which was pushed into the trees and, after pitching back to the fairway, was followed by pulling a five-wood approach out-of-bounds.

On the 13th, his tee-shot was again destined for trouble before hitting a spectator and rebounding back on to a walkway while, on the 16th, he hit his three-wood tee-shot "100 yards right" and, again, out-of-bounds.

The wonder of it all was that Harrington managed to produce birdies on the 32nd and 36th holes - which were only good enough to halve the holes but sufficient to repel Levet - on his way eking out a win.

"I'm hopeful that I'll recover and hopeful that I am okay, but it doesn't help when you hit a lot of bad shots and you're aware of what you're doing and of your grip," he said.

He added: "We're going to get up in the morning and we're not really going to know what we're going to get. It really will be a day of, who knows?" Hopefully, for Harrington's sake, it'll be a case of beware the injured golfer!

Semi-final draw

(1) E Els v (5) P Harrington

(11) L Westwood v

(7) M-A Jimenez or (15) B Langer