Jaco Prinsloo believes he is reaping the rewards from a "better attitude" after a stirring back nine helped move him into contention at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
Prinsloo bounced back from last week's missed cut at the Bahrain Championship presented by Bapco Energies to climb into a share of third place following an opening 68.
The South African, who was in the first group of the day, birdied the seventh but immediately gave that shot back - the only one he dropped on Thursday - before adding further gains at the tenth, 11th, 15th and 16th to sit one behind clubhouse leaders Ashun Wu and compatriot Zander Lombard at four under.
He admitted Thursday's 4am alarm clock and a change in mentality contributed to his positive start at Doha Golf Club.
Prinsloo said: "It was an early one, that's for sure! The conditions were definitely favourable this morning. First nine we didn't have much wind, back nine it picked up and funny enough that's when I played better but happy to be done and have the afternoon off.
"The greens are pretty firm so you have to pick your landing spots. Some tricky pins out there so you have to know where to pitch your ball and try and be on the safe side.
"I feel like I'm searching for something! I didn't play my best last week, but I definitely brought a better attitude to the game today so just tried to enjoy myself and it worked today."
Clément Sordet is confident he is close to finding his best form after a brilliant start in Qatar.
The 27-year-old has made just one cut in seven events this season, but was one of the few afternoon starters to make a dent on the leaderboard and briefly shared the lead.
He carded six birdies and one bogey to join Wu at the summit through 15 holes, however, the Frenchman found trouble at the next to slip one back alongside Prinsloo, Dane Niklas Nørgaard and Australian Haydn Barron at four under.
"It's been great. Four under is really good on this course," Sordet said. "It's pretty windy and the greens are really firm so it's tough between the fairways and the greens, but I've managed to do that really well today.
"(The course) is in much better condition, the greens are really firm and are rolling really good. It's a great golf course, I really like the layout and hopefully I will do good tomorrow.
"I've been struggling for a bit now and been struggling to score well, but it is always great to score four under. I know my game is really close and today was great so I'm really happy."
