The beautifully-judged six-iron of 169 yards sailed arrow-straight into a gentle crosswind before finishing 10 feet right of the 18th pin. As it happened, Darren Clarke didn't need to hit the putt to claim a quarter-final place in the $5 million Andersen Consulting Matchplay Championship here at La Costa yesterday.

A third-round victory over Denmark's Thomas Bjorn assured him a minimum reward of $150,000 when he meets his 1999 Ryder Cup conqueror, Hal Sutton, this morning.

But Clarke's thoughts last night weren't about cash: rather, they were on one of the finest matchplay achievements by an Irish player.

"I feel very much at ease with myself and the hope now is that I can keep it going," he said. "Thomas and I started the match as good friends and there'll be no falling out over this result."

Tiger Woods advanced comfortably. And David Duval, after beating Sergio Garcia on the 17th, revealed his need to be part of the rivalry at the top. "If I had lost to Sergio today, I would have been further cast aside," he said pointedly.

Meanwhile, Clarke became the third European survivor, joining British Open champion Paul Lawrie and Miguel Angel Jimenez in the last eight.

Lawrie's survival was a knifeedge affair, coming at the 21st after a series of putting errors by himself and Mark Calcavecchia.

Professional pride was very much in evidence when the American, by way of a reminder to Lawrie that he, too, was once the proud possessor of the old claret jug, wore an official British Open sweater from his victory at Royal Troon in 1989.

In the event, Lawrie squandered winning chances on the 18th and 20th, before securing the match by sinking a 20-foot birdie on the next.

Meanwhile, Woods was clearly pleased with his day's work at the expense of the genial Japanese, Shigeki Maruyama. "I played beautifully, hitting a lot of good shots and making some key putts," said the world number one, who was five under par for the 15 holes.

Then, in case anyone ran away with the notion that the exercise was essentially mechanical for a player of his quality, he detailed his practice-ground work on Thursday afternoon after struggling against Retief Goosen. What could he possibly have been working on? "My hip turn, my shoulder turn, my right knee flex and the right foot position on the way down," came the calm reply.

Now, the reigning USPGA champion is to be challenged by the reigning Open champion. "He's the best in the world, and if you're not looking forward to playing the best in the world, there's something wrong," said Lawrie.

Not even Woods, however, could match the majesty of Clarke's eagle at the 526-yard second, which set him in the right mood for what was always going to be a difficult match. From a perfect drive, the Tyroneman nailed a three-wood second-shot of 255 yards to within three feet of the pin. And he needed the putt, as Bjorn made birdie.

Clarke then leapt into an early, two-hole lead by sinking putts of 18 and 20 feet for birdies at the next two. But the Dane, who was a Ryder Cup colleague at Valderrama in 1997, quietly regained parity when uncharacteristically poor approach play by Clarke led to bogeys at the fifth and sixth.

"I was beginning to let things slip at that stage," he admitted. "It was terrible to be making bogeys from the middle of the fairway."

But the need to prove himself among the world's best - a win here would get him into the top-12 of the rankings - fired his enthusiasm for battle.

Bjorn sank a 10-footer for birdie on the long ninth for a one-hole lead at the turn, which he reached in an approximate 32 - four under par. Then Clarke produced his first, crucial six-iron of the round, leaving his approach eight feet from the pin at the 450-yard 10th for a winning birdie to square the match.

They were still level after exchanging the 12th and 13th. Then Clarke gained what proved to be a winning lead with a par on the next, where his opponent was bunkered. And he went two up when Bjorn three-putted the 16th.

But the Dane extended the match the full distance with a glorious birdie at the long 17th where he hit a four-iron approach to 10 feet and sank the putt.

Afterwards, Bjorn was predictably gracious and made no attempt to use recent back problems as an excuse. "We had a good match and Darren deserved to win," he said.

As for the clash with world number 11 Sutton, who beat him 4 and 2 in the Ryder Cup at Brookline, Clarke said: "Hal's a really nice guy and a quality player. Maybe I'll play better this time."

On yesterday's form, it seemed very much better than a wild hope.