That was superb play but Harrington would have found himself down had he been playing Miguel Angel Jimenez, the opponent of Bernhard Langer. The three time European Tour winner was out in 30, including the first eagle of the day a holed second at the 7th, all that good enough for only 1 up!

Langer started the back nine with three straight pars to go four down as Jimenez was on fire with a birdie, birdie eagle run. There were two bogies from Jimenez and one more birdie for the cigar connoisseur to be home in 33 against 35 from Langer – the end result, Jimenez 3 up with 18 to go.

In the match between Retief Goosen and Lee Westwood, it was Westwood who produced a similar start to the holes back to the clubhouse to go 2 up. That became 3 up at lunch courtesy of a full pitch shot into the 18th where Goosen was playing from a much shorter distance and could not make his four.

Levet said he could not hole a putt in his first 18 and three putt on the 28th left him 6 down. Missing at the next from 8ft and the Frenchman was seething. His response was not to throw the match away but to produce the third eagle of the day at the 4th and follow it with two more birdies to pull the deficit back to just three.

Cabrera played similarly to Levet over the first three of the afternoon round to go from 1up to 2 down against Els. He responded in kind with his own eagle after hitting the 4th in two and then drew level when Els made a mistake at the 6th.

Westwood also eagled 4 then made a two at the 5th to take his lead to 5. Two holes later though, he found a place left of the 8th green that the cameras had never been and lost that hole, going back to 5 up

At the head of things, Els vs. Cabrera, Els made a three at the 9th only for Cabrera to respond in kind with a two at the next. Els then rolled in 30ft putt at the 11th and had a chance from ten feet at the next (for an eagle) to go back to 2 up. Both missed the 13th with Els having the more difficult chip shot. Cabrera was first to putt with an easier attempt and missed leaving Els so slid home a downhill 7 footer to go 2 up with five to play. Cabrera was no finished though, hitting to just a foot at the 14th after Els had put his tee shot just 6ft away.

Having played a shot in the morning where a broken club was a certainty but no physical damage occurred (‘I didn’t hurt my wrist at all’ – Harrington), Padriag then had a similar shot at the 9th as he sought to convert what was then four up after a three at the 8th. This time both the club did not break but Harrington hit his fingers, notably his right thumb hard, against the tree.

A strong chip at the 9th, then a short push from the tees of both the 10th and 11th of the afternoon round and Harrington was in trouble. He saved the 11th with a brilliant bunker shot then blocked his drive well right at the par five 12th and struggled to make the green of the par five in four. That was just one up.

Much shorter off the 13th tee, Harrington still managed a par to a Levet bogey to go back to two. They then matched each other shot for shot at the 14th for twos and on the next, Harrington had come to terms with how to play with his injured finger, hitting a good long tee shot. His second was short though, allowing Levet the opportunity to apply pressure on a Harrington two putt. Both made their fours and went to the 16th.

Behind them, Retief Goosen could not convert from short range on the 14th and had lipped out back at the 12th. Dormie four, Goosen then nearly holed his second to the 15th. A Westwood bogey in 16 and it was dormie 2 with the match finishing at the 17th with a half in birdies.

Ernie Els also lost a hole and went back to all square by going over the 16th green and could not have been looking forward to the 17th tee shot having hit two OOB in the morning. Just as in the final of 2004, when Els had beaten Thomas Bjorn, this was a key shot and Els responded with a huge effort which left only a 4 iron in. That duly resulted in a four and a win and an 8ft putt at the last saw Els home in 34 strokes for a 1up win.

‘By the 14th, I felt I was starting to swing it as I want to. If I snatch the take-away it goes left. Angel was unlucky with his tee shot on 17 – I didn’t think it would fly that far. It doesn’t when you stand on the 17th, its tough. My mind set was “Lets-go”.’

The 16th was a disaster for Harrington and a scraped five at the 17th saw the Irishman standing on the 18th tee dormie up. The second to the 18th was the first shot Harrington had hit fully since his hand was injured on the 9th –

‘On the 12th and 13th, I knew I wasn’t capable of swinging the club properly.

‘From then on I wasn’t trying to hit greens – it was prodding and pushing – I knew Thomas would have to make birdies if I could get pars which is hard on demand.

‘When I took the shot on the 9th, I wasn’t aware of the tree – I didn’t even think about it.

‘I felt sorry for myself when I was hitting it 100 yards right then I thought “Do whatever is necessary”

‘My neck has been worse and I’ve had tennis elbow – I’m a bit of a big girls blouse actually!’

Out on the far reaches of the course were Jimenez and Bernard Langer. Langer was showing off his new caddy, Ross Holden, to the UK public and hanging in on a match which was a bit of dogged affair, still though with a match card littered with birdies. What was noticeable was Langer’s length from the tee, able to get up the 17th in two in the morning when beating Vijay Singh.

The Ryder Cup has meant limited playing opportunities for Langer yet the quality of golf he still plays is very much World Class. With the evening closing in, the golf started to suffer in comparison with the performances in the first three matches. He would finish 3 down with 8 to play, leaving Lee Westwood a long wait in the morning to find out whether he was playing his Ryder Cup Captain or possibly a teammate.

‘I looked at the draw early on and thought “this is going to be tricky”’, said Westwood.

‘I thought I was going to have to work my way through the Major Champions (having beaten Todd Hamilton, then Retief Goosen) – but Vijay lost this morning (USPGA).’

Westwood is the most dangerous player left in the draw, especially with his liking for Matchplay honed from his times as an Amateur.