Quietly-spoken French golfing ace Victor Dubuisson stamped his European Ryder Cup credentials with an impressive victory over 2010 Celtic Manor winning hero Graeme McDowell.

Dubuisson sent McDowell packing back to his Florida home with a 1 up defeat in the quarter-finals of the $9m WGC – Accenture Match-Play Championship at Dove Mountain in Arizona.

McDowell, who is the reigning Volvo World Match-Play champion was 2up after just three holes found himself 1 down when the current Turkish Airlines Open champion won the 4th, 7th and 9th holes.

However the match then see-sawed with McDowell winning 11 with a birdie to get back to all square but Dubuisson then birdied 12 to go 1up before his 2010 US Open rival pared 13 to Dubuisson’s bogey.

Quietly-spoken Victor Dubuisson continuing to make plenty of noise in knocking former US Open winner Graeme McDowell out of the last eight at the WGC – Accenture Match-Play Championship. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)

Dubuisson then won the 16th with a par to ‘G Mac’s’ bogey and with the last two holes halved.

The French golfer is already lying second on the European Points list table and even if he should lose his Sunday semi-final encounter with four-time Major winning Ernie Els he is assured of going ahead of Thomas Bjorn to be the leading points qualifier.

And with European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley in Arizona working for SKY Sports Dubuisson could not do any better as he strives to become the first French Ryder Cup qualifier since Jean Van de Velde competed in the haplessly led Mark James 1999 side.

It was Australian Jason Day who was first player to reach the semi-finals with a 2&1 victory over South African Louis Oosthuizen.

Helped by three birdies in the first nine holes at sun-splashed Dove Mountain, Day sealed the win with a matching par at the 17th after Oosthuizen had been troubled by an ailing back during their quarter-final clash.

American Rickie Fowler joined Day in the last four with a see-sawing, 1 up victory over fellow American and former US Open winner Jim Furyk, who came from 3 down after 12 holes to go one up after 16 before running out of steam.

Day had trailed by one after Oosthuizen made a fast start with birdies at the second and third but then upped his game to take control as his opponent had periodic back treatment from his physiotherapist out on the course.

“We both played well today … it didn’t seem like Louis had a sore back because the way he played was pretty good,” said Day.

“I’ve loved match-play ever since I was a little kid. You just have to grind at it and keep fighting until the end. I’m just glad I got it done and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Fowler, wielding a red-hot putter, birdied three of the first four holes to go three up on Furyk before his opponent briefly cut the deficit to one by winning the sixth and seventh holes.

Birdies at the ninth and 11th got Fowler back to three up but Furyk again rallied, leveling the match with three consecutive birdies from the par-five 13th.

Furyk briefly went 1up with a par at the short 16th, where Fowler bogeyed, but then stumbled when he bogeyed the par-four 17th after being bunkered off the tee for the match to reach the 18th all square.

After Fowler had comfortably reached the green in two, Furyk duffed his chip from just short of the putting surface on the way to another bogey as his opponent wrapped up victory with a two-putt par.

The semi-finals will be played on Sunday morning with the 18-hole final scheduled to take place later in the day.