Harrington under the thumb from Els

As if taking on world number two and defending champion Ernie Els was not enough, Padraig Harrington was having to contend with a bruised and battered thumb at Wentworth today.

After nine holes of their HSBC World Match Play semi-final the Irish Ryder Cup player was two down.

In the other match, meanwhile, Lee Westwood was level with cup team-mate Miguel Angel Jimenez after eight, the Spaniard having begun the day by beating his European captain Bernhard Langer two and one.

Harrington had smashed his right thumb against a tree trunk on the 27th hole of his quarter-final against Thomas Levet – another member of the victorious side in Detroit last month – yesterday.

He was three up at the time and despite the pain and the swelling giving him real problems he hung on to win with a last-green birdie.

The Dubliner, runner-up in the event to Ian Woosnam in 2001, had received treatment during and after the game and then waited to see how it was this morning.

The answer was badly bruised and still swollen – “worse than yesterday,” he said.

But, much to his relief, it did not have as much of an effect on his game. He nailed his opening drive down the middle and beyond Els, but after halving the first six holes fell behind when the South African, gunning for a record-breaking sixth title to go with the £1m (€1.44m) first prize, chipped in from 30 feet.

The world number two probably felt he should have been well ahead by then. He had already missed putts of eight, five, seven and six feet – three of them for birdies and one for eagle.

With halves in par at the eighth and ninth Els turned in a two-under 33 before Harrington, out in 34, went into the trees on the short 10th and failed to save his par.

Jimenez struck straight away against Westwood, making a 40-footer on the first. The Worksop golfer, winner in 2000, levelled with a pitch to three feet at the sixth and after Jimenez rolled home an 18-foot birdie putt on the next he found the target from even further away at the eighth.

He had had to work hard to knock out Langer, conqueror of world number one Vijay Singh in the first round.

“Bernhard played probably the best he had in the match this morning and it was tough,” said Jimenez, while Langer commented: “I fought hard, but I guess I was a bit tired yesterday – the fatigue factor set in after 40 holes.”

It took him to the 37th to beat Singh and then had only a short break before teeing off again.