Amid the many and unpredictable variables that surround matchplay golf, the one constant that separates the combatants is the size of their heart.

Bernhard Langer did not contribute to three European Ryder Cup triumphs without having that special ability to commit himself totally to the cause, or deal with its unique demands. Dwarfed and out-driven repeatedly by the Fijian Vijay Singh, the German's appetite for the fray was as ravenous as ever in their second-round tie in the Andersen Consulting World Matchplay Championship.

It was a classic confrontation between the generations - former US Masters champion versus current PGA title-holder - and Langer won it conclusively with a superb display.

The first hole was lost to a birdie three, but Langer was undaunted and, by the turn, he had established a three-hole advantage, reeling off four straight birdies from the sixth with Singh unable to match his brilliance. When the game ended on the seventeenth hole, which was halved in par for a 2 & 1 victory, Langer was under six-under par - a tribute to his shot-making on a day when a swirling wind made club selection a real problem.

Langer confessed: ''I haven't played match-play since the last Ryder Cup. I drove the ball well again, hitting almost every fairway. The difference today was that my putter was very hot.

''Vijay played really well too, but I won the match on the greens. I am not here to represent Europe. I am here to do well for myself. I take every match as it comes and give it my very best.''

Greg Norman's capacity to self-destruct is just as legendary. Three up with four holes to play against the Argentinian Eduardo Romero, his place in the last 16 seemed certain. Just as he had presented the US PGA to Bob Tway and the US Masters to Larry Mize, he handed Romero his ticket to the last 16.

Admirably, Romero birdied three of the last four holes to force the match into extra-time. However, Norman drove out of bounds on the second extra hole as his game mysteriously unravelled again and still halved the hole in a bogey six.

On the next, a short hole, though, he missed with his 20ft birdie attempt, whereas Romero made his from 5ft less and Norman was left to contemplate his latest collapse on his private jet back to Florida.

The seeds continued to be scattered and the 3 & 1 defeat of world No.2 David Duval by fellow American Bill Glasson (34) had the television networks in a tizzy over the damage to their ratings. Duval could manage only two birdies as the magic deserted him.

Fortunately for ABC and ESPN's coverage, Tiger Woods scraped through by a single hole against Tway - the only one of the world's top 10 to survive - while, late in the day, Jose Maria Olazabal beat Michael Bradley 2 & 1 to leave Europe with only three representatives in the last 16.

If further humiliation is to be avoided, then Colin Montgomerie and the rest of Europe's finest must realise that they had not played enough golf or taken enough time to acclimatise and must be prepared to leave their firesides and get on the fairways much earlier. Second-round results: (USA unless stated, seeded positions in brackets):

(1) T Woods beat (33) B Tway 1 hole; (49) C Parry (Australia) lost to (48) S Cink 3 and 2; (8) V Singh (Fiji) lost to (25) B Langer (Germany) 2 and 1; (9) N Price (Zimbabwe) lost to (24) J Maggert 1 hole; (61) S Pate beat (36) B Jobe 1 hole; (13) F Couples beat (20) S Hoch 1 hole; (60) E Romero (Argentina) beat (28) G Norman (Australia) at 21st; (12) P Mickelson beat (21) L Janzen 2 and 1; (2) D Duval lost to (34) B Glasson 2 and 1; (50) A Magee beat (47) T Bjorn (Denmark) 2 and 1; (58) P Azinger lost to (39) L Roberts 2 and 1; (10) J Leonard lost to (42) S Maruyama (Japan) 4 and 2; (62) M Bradley lost to (30) J M Olazabal (Spain) 2 and 1; (51) S Jones beat (46) S Verplank 5 and 4; (59) C Stadler lost to (27) J Huston 2 and 1; (54) P Sjoland (Sweden) beat (43) C Franco (Paraguay) 1 hole.