WESTWOOD AND McILROY ON A COLLISION COURSE IN ARIZONA

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By OLIVER BROWN, Maracana, Arizona
Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy, two players vying ferociously to wrest the world No 1 spot from Luke Donald, kept alive a potential semi-final showdown on Sunday after both moved serenely into the last eight here at the Accenture Matchplay.
This corner of Arizona desert, framed by many a Saguaro cactus and the odd passing lizard, could hardly form a more fitting backdrop to their Wild West shoot-out.
Wisely, Westwood refused to countenance such a prospect. In sealing his place in Saturday’s quarter-final against Martin Laird, he moved into unchartered territory, having never advanced beyond the second round at this tournament in 11 previous attempts.
“There’s a danger you’re looking too far ahead,” he shot back, when the possibility of a McIlroy duel was raised. “I’m just happy to be looking for a different restaurant for Friday night.”
But his commanding 3 and  2 victory on Friday night over Californian Nick Watney suggested Westwood was on the cusp of a maiden World Golf Championship triumph.
Every department of his game looked perfectly watertight yesterday - even his traditionally suspect chipping, as he lob-wedged to within three inches of the cup to wrap up his third-round win.
“While I was at home last week, I did some work on finding a reliable technique,” explained Westwood, who shook off memories of the botched chip that cost him a victory in Dubai earlier this month. “All over, my game has been pretty good. There has not really been a weakness.”
Westwood is fiercely committed to reclaiming the No 1 ranking, which he lost to Donald last season, and has displayed this week the type of ominous form to do so. He is assuredly treading a Donald-like path to success in Arizona: his rival did not trail in any match en route to grasping the matchplay title a year ago and neither, so far, has he.
Reinforcing his reputation as the consummate front-runner, Westwood birdied each of the first two holes against Watney and never looked back. The pair looked at ease in each other’s company, as the Englishman sought to illuminate his opponent about Championship football and the charms of his beloved Nottingham Forest.
“Nick knows a lot about it,” he said, approvingly. “He’s a Spurs fan.”
McIlroy appeared equally menacing for stretches of his 3 and 1 vanquishing of Spain’s Miguel Ángel Jiménez. The duo formed a wonderful contrast: the young buck, taking great pride in his new-found chiselled physique, and the Rioja-swilling, 48-year-old Spaniard, who prepared for the encounter by puffing a giant cigar on the driving range.
McIlroy’s approach play was a joy to behold - nowhere more so than the 17th, when he was within four feet of the pin in two to close out the match.
The US Open champion, who plays South Korean Sang-Moon Bae today, reflected: “I felt like last year was a great stepping stone for me to go on to bigger and better things. It’s nice to get to the quarter-finals and I’d like to go a little bit further.”
Westwood excepted, the field has opened up invitingly for McIlroy, who lies a mere 0.004 points behind him in the rankings and could also take over at No 1 should he win Sunday’s final.
Germany’s Martin Kaymer fell to a 4 and 3 defeat by Matt Kuchar, while Steve Stricker lost by the same margin to compatriot Hunter Mahan.
Sweden’s Peter Hanson continued his sparkling form with a 5 and 3 thrashing of Brandt Snedeker.