McGinley and Goosen take opponents apart to reach the last four

So they may as well have told the vast crowds swarming here yesterday as the competition reached the quarter-final mark. Well, they thought it would be "competition" but the two matches they had really come to witness held all the competitive nature of an England friendly.

Sure there was the tussle of Michael Campbell and Steve Elkington to hold the attention as the New Zealander prevailed at the first extra hole, and Jose Maria Olazabal valiantly hung in there against Angel Cabrera to at least see the shadows lengthen before succumbing 4 and 3.

But as for Luke Donald and Mark Hensby? The pride of England and Australia both saw their hopes of winning the £1m first prize - the richest in golf - extinguished here well before 3pm. Bad play stopped the light, to corrupt an expression those two countries have heard quite regularly recently.

And despite Hensby's 12 and 11 capitulation to the mightily imposing Retief Goosen equalling the most comprehensive in the 42 years of this championship, it undoubtedly went darkest of all for Donald.

As the 14th ranked player in the world, the 27-year-old is not supposed to lose 9 and 8, especially to an Irishman ranked 36th, who has not won a tournament in four years. But McGinley belied that barren run with four birdies in the first six holes to grab an advantage he was never to surrender and with his Ryder Cup partner lurching from a chip-in eagle to a double bogey to be six down at the interval, it was game over. (Bar what little shouting there would be from the dismayed home support, of course.)

"I don't take anything for granted in this game, nothing at all," said McGinley. "I've been disappointed too many times in this game and I certainly didn't lose focus after 18 holes this morning. I said to my dad, 'it's like a boxing match, I've hit him with so many rights he should be down, but isn't'. And that's how I felt."

Donald, however, was down. And out. For the count, in fact, which quickly spiralled to nine when he bogeyed the third, seventh and eighth. The 45-footer by McGinley on the fifth (their 23rd) also kept the scorer's momentum going. "I was slightly embarrassed by that," admitted the Dubliner. "I was just lagging it down to the hole and it goes straight in the middle." Of Donald's heart, that is.

Hensby's was similarly spliced in two as Goosen sliced through his challenge like a samurai cutting butter. Only a missed three-footer on the last spared Colin Montgomerie's first-round conqueror the blushes of equalling the worst first 18 - 10 down - and even then he had to resort to a piece of outrageous gamesmanship.

Going directly behind an opponent when he's lining up his putt as if you are about to give it to him and then instead taking a look and grimacing before walking away for him to carry on is not the way of match play. At least, not in Surrey.

As ever, Goosen did not have much to say about it, but then why should he when he has just dished out the same record stuffing he did last year to the American Jeff Maggert?

The world No 5 is not supposed to feel at home at the course that is in fact so close to his home, but in this form the painfully quiet South African would feel comfortable putting for a million at a full-on rave. Goosen is 18-under for the 54 holes he has thus far been forced to complete and if Campbell is to provide much resistance today he must discover the game that helped him leapfrog his opponent at the US Open in June.

Campbell said: "I will actually use that sentence quite a bit. 'I'm the US Open champion - I'm good enough to win this match.'"

The other semi-final will also feature something of a rematch, but this one can boast being held at the same venue as well. After repelling the gutsy comeback of Olazabal, Cabrera looked forward to his semi-final saying: "It'll be just like the PGA Championship all over again".

McGinley will certainly hope not, the Argentinian won that particular battle here in May, and to help him towards a cheque that would almost guarantee him a place in next year's Ryder Cup in his hometown, he made a plea for "all the Paddies in London to get down here and roar me on". Best arrive early. To avoid disappointment.

WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP (Wentworth): Quarter-finals (36 holes): R Goosen (SA) bt M Hensby (Aus) 12 and 11; P McGinley (Irl) by L Donald (Eng) 9 and 8; A Cabrera (Arg) bt J M Olazabal (Sp) 4 and 3; M Campbell (NZ) bt S Elkington (Aus) 1st extra hole.

Today's semi-finals: Goosen v Campbell (08.30 and 13.15); McGinley v Cabrera (08.45 and 13.30).

l David Toms, the American Ryder Cup player, was airlifted to a Pittsburgh hospital after suffering chest pains during the first round of the Lumber Classic. The 38-year-old was initially placed on the critical list before his condition was described last night as "comfortable". Shaun Micheel, Tom's playing partner, said: "He kind of went down to his knee then got back up then went down again. He just said his chest was hurting. I'm no doctor but that's definitely not a good sign. He just turned real white."