Rose had seen an end to Phil Mickelson's Match Play challenge

Playing their quarter-final ties, Casey lost 5&4 to defending champion Geoff Ogilvy, while Rose went down by the same margin to Trevor Immelman.

There was better news for Swede Henrik Stenson, who pulled off an unlikely one-up victory over Nick O'Hern.

In the other quarter-final pairing, Chad Campbell secured a tense one-up win over Canadian Stephen Ames.

There were no excuses from Casey or Rose, both soundly beaten as the British challenge petered out.

"I didn't play very good golf, simple as that," Casey said. "I didn't play the golf I wanted to and gave him way too many holes."

Casey and Ogilvy are good friends, members of the same club in Scottsdale, Arizona, where they live.

They have dined together nearly every night this week, but the friendship was put aside once they arrived at the first tee.

Sometimes you just run into a guy who is hot, and that is matchplay Justin Rose

Casey drew first blood by winning the second hole with a 15-foot birdie, but US Open champion Ogilvy bounced back to take the next four holes.

Ogilvy was three-up at the turn, and he promptly birdied the next three holes, although Casey also birdied the 10th and 11th holes, before losing the 12th.

It was just a matter of time before the final blow was delivered, and it came at the 14th, where Ogilvy's par was good enough.

Rose, who beat Phil Mickelson and Charles Howell in his previous two matches, was no match for South African Immelman, who caught fire with eight birdies to consign his opponent to defeat by an identical margin to Casey.

"Trevor played very, very well," Rose said. "Sometimes you just run into a guy who is hot, and that is matchplay.

"I missed short putts on holes five, six and seven, and that gave Trevor a little lead.

"I made some good putts around the turn, but every time I made a good putt, Trevor would birdie the next hole and I could never quite get back into the game."

Swede Stenson lived to fight another day, pulling off victory over O'Hern with a magnificent par at the 18th hole.