Rory McIlroy produced a spectacular finish to make it two wins from two at the WCG-Dell Technologies Match Play but Shane Lowry's group stage exit was confirmed after the second day's action in Austin.
The world number three fell three down after six holes to an inspired Denny McCarthy, but fought back to take the lead with a birdie on the 16th and then drove the green on the par-four 18th.
McIlroy's tee shot on the 375-yard hole finished just four feet from the pin and led to a conceded eagle which secured a two-hole win, meaning he needs just a half from Friday's match with Keegan Bradley to progress.
One of the greatest drives you will EVER see 🤯@McIlroyRory drives the ball to 3 FEET at the 375-yard par-4 18th with a 349-yard carry to the green! pic.twitter.com/HzhMBtyKkr
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 23, 2023
"I feel like 12-18 is my stretch of the golf course where I can really exert my advantage over anyone I play with the length I have," McIlroy told Sky Sports.
"It has served me well over the last few years and thankfully did so again today."
Lowry can't quality for the last-16 after a disappointing 4&3 defeat to Canadian Mackenzie Hughes at Austin Country Club.
Lowry, who bogeyed two of the first four holes against Hughes and found himself five down after seven, briefly threatened to make a comeback as he won the 10th with a par and then eagled the par-five 12th.
However, he promptly found water off the tee on the next and a sixth match play loss of the year – following defeats in all four matches in January's Hero Cup – was confirmed when Hughes birdied the 15th.
Lowry faces Jordan Spieth on Friday but the destiny of group 12 is in the hands of Taylor Montgomery, who beat Spieth 2&1 and takes on Hughes in the final round of group matches.
Seamus Power fought his way back into contention as a birdie on the 18th saw him win by one hole against Canada's Adam Hadwin.
Power faces Sam Burns in his final match, needing a win to force a playoff to decide who tops the group.
World number two Jon Rahm kept his hopes of winning the tournament alive as beat Keith Mitchell 4&3.
Rahm, who has won three strokeplay events on the PGA Tour this season, suffered a surprise defeat to Rickie Fowler in group two on Wednesday.
"I think the biggest difference was on the greens," Rahm told Golf Channel.
"I started off good yesterday but on 11, 12 and 14 had three putts and that’s why I lost those holes. That’s why I went from having a two-hole lead to going down quickly.
"Today I played pretty similar, not many mistakes tee to green and I was able to capitalise on a couple of putts."
Rahm will face former BMW PGA Championship winner Billy Horschel in the final round of group matches on Friday and said: "Not many pairings are going to have more electricity on the course than me and Billy combined so it should be a good one.
"I’m going to have to get the win tomorrow."
After his match, Rahm was asked whether he agreed with McIlroy speaking out in favour of the proposals for a shorter ball to be used in elite competitions.
"I think it sets manufacturers back quite a bit," Rahm said. "I don’t think it’s fair to tell all these brands to have to go through the research, the development, and the testing of a brand new golf ball just for a few of us.
"I just don’t think the PGA Tour and the manufacturers are going to put up with that. I have a hard time believing it. But it’s happened before. They have changed the grooves, they keep figuring out limitations for our game, but either way whatever happens we’ll deal with it."
McIlroy went as far as to say he could use the shorter ball on the PGA Tour even if it was not required in order to best prepare for majors, but Rahm added: "Let’s see if the majors decide to do it.
"I find it hard to believe as well that the majors would go completely against what the professional tours decide to do. And if that were the case, if that were to happen, that would set a huge divide in the game of golf that is just not good for anybody.
"I think Rory, to an extent, is right. The change benefits the better players, especially the longer players.
"I think I would be hitting it 10 to 15 yards shorter, which would put me on what I was doing in 2019, 2020, and my golf game was pretty good back then as well. So I don’t think it would be a big difference."
