The anguished look spoke volumes, as his attempted lag-putt raced four feet past the 36th hole. In that moment of crushing tension, Ian Woosnam suspected a great chance had been lost. And sure enough, one hole later, Tiger Woods claimed a semi-final place in the Cisco World Matchplay Championship here on the West Course yesterday.

It was a marvellous battle which would have greatly boosted European golf had it gone the other way. For just above Woosnam in the draw, Lee Westwood inflicted a stunning, 2 and 1 defeat on three-time champion Ernie Els, who had never failed to reach the final in four previous attempts.

With the last match still to reach its thrilling climax, Westwood was asked whether he would prefer to be meeting Woods or Woosnam. "It doesn't really matter, except that one is longer off the tee than the other," he replied, dead-pan. And the curious thing was that one tended to believe him.

Meanwhile, a record attendance of 17,950 went home sated by some splendid competition. Indeed Vijay Singh, the defending champion, set one scoring record and equalled two others while beating Patrik Sjoland by 7 and 6 at the top of the draw.

The wonder was that the match went that far after the Fijian had shot an approximate morning round of 62 to equal the target set by Ronan Rafferty in 1990. In the process, Singh's outward 29 equalled the previous best by Tony Jacklin in 1972 and Bernhard Langer in 1990. But his seven-hole lead at that stage was a new tournament record.

Then came a sparkling recovery by Mark O'Meara who, with a 5 and 4 win, inflicted the most severe beating Colin Montgomerie has sustained in 16 matches since his debut here in 1991. "Colin didn't look comfortable with his driver and it's tough to play this course out of the rough," remarked the reigning US Masters and British Open champion afterwards.

For his part, Montgomerie saw a three-hole lead after the 15th, close to one hole by lunchtime as O'Meara finished birdie, eagle. The American's closing effort was the product of a drive, three wood and a huge putt of 50 feet. And when they resumed, the match continued to swing his way, as he took four holes in a row from the 21st, with birdie, birdie, par, birdie.

But for general appeal, the Woods-Woosnam battle couldn't be rivalled. And the morning play, after which the Welshman held a one-hole lead, had a fascinating impact on the lunchtime odds. Suddenly, Singh was 5 to 2 favourite to retain the title, followed by Woods at 11 to 4 and Westwood at 9 to 2.

Entering the final nine holes with a one-hole lead, the American seemed to be taking control. But Woods then three-putted the 29th and proceeded to hook his drive out of bounds at the next, to give Woosnam the lead at a crucial stage of the match.

The ability of great players to rationalise their mistakes, is one of the enduring fascinations of golf. From my perspective, Woods administered so much power to his drive on the long 12th that the right-hand took over, causing the ball to hook out of bounds. His explanation, however, was that he was expecting the ball to drift back on the left-to-right wind - and it was hit so well that it didn't budge.

Anyway, Woosnam extended his lead to two holes with a birdie from six feet on the 33rd. And he had only to two-putt the next, to retain that lead with two holes to play. As he stood over a five-foot par putt, however, a Welsh friend of his whispered: "He hates these." Sure enough, the ball never threatened the hole and his lead was halved.

A range of 15 feet at the 17th was much more comfortable. So it was that against the odds, he smoothly slotted it for a half in birdie to preserve his one-hole lead going down the last. There, both players were on the green in two - Woods 40 feet away and Woosnam about 15 feet closer in.

"I felt I needed an eagle at the last to keep the match alive and when my first putt was short, I thought it was all over," said Woods afterwards. "All Woosie had to do was two-putt for a win." Indeed. But his first approach putt was disastrously over-zealous. Suddenly the words of his friend on the 16th came back to me as a great little fighter pushed the return putt onto the right lip.

Down the 471-yard 37th, the American's power became decisive when they were both in rough off the tee. Woods hit a six iron to the back of the green whereas Woosnam couldn't reach the putting surface with a three-wood. Two putts later and the world's number one had squeaked through with a blessed par.

"Some match!," he enthused afterwards. "And the crowd! You could definitely see who they were rooting for and I wanted to play well enough to silence them. But Woosie is a champion and I knew he would capitalise on my mistakes."

Woods, with red-jacketed minders to protect him from any problems from a huge gallery, continued to battle a head-cold and complained of having nose bleeds during the afternoon. Yet, he was clearly in a highly competitive mood about a semi-final meeting with Westwood.

The Englishman's victim, Els, made no attempt to hide his disappointment, but was generous in defeat. "I gave him the 11th (where he missed a three-footer) this afternoon and Lee then jumped all over me on the next," he said. "That's what you have to do in matchplay." He added: "I know Vijay is playing well, but Lee is now the man to beat."

Down the 12th for a second time, Westwood hit as good a three-wood shot as has been witnessed at this famous venue. From a distance of 236 yards, the ball went arrow straight and then moved marginally on the left-to-right wind before coming to rest six feet from the pin. And the putt went down for an eagle.

"I like my chances," said the 25-year-old Englishman. "I'm 21 under par for the holes so far and playing pretty well. I was especially pleased to be six under par for the back nine this morning."

For his part, Singh had a 10-foot birdie putt on the 26th for a record, 11 and 10 win over Sjoland. Instead, the Swede postponed the inevitable with three successive birdies. "I kept thinking about the advice Seve once gave me that when you're 10 up in matchplay you go for 11," said Singh. "But in the end, I was happy to win."

There was plenty to talk about, except by Woosnam. Understandably, he made a hasty departure, declining an invitation to be interviewed. Less than four days after coming in as a late substitute on Monday night, he was literally within an inch of beating the world's number one. Even in the fluctuating world of tournament golf, it was a decidedly curious week.