Ian Poulter headed straight for the range despite a one under par third round 69 in the US Open Championship at Chambers Bay.
Poulter, who only made the cut when amateur Nick Hardy’s late bogey on Friday pushed the mark back to five over, climbed into the top 25 on four over but felt it should have been even better.
“I’m coming in, to be honest, a little rusty,” said Poulter, whose build-up was disrupted by injury.
“It's a shame I couldn't get any more work done than I did. I always knew it was going to be tricky coming in having not hit as many balls as I would have liked to.
“I've been pain-free the last week, which has been good, so I put some good work in.
“When I put it in play, I've been brilliant. I hit a lot of good shots, used a lot of the slopes, felt really comfy on the golf course.
“Today was disappointing because I started to get the game where I wanted to, but a couple of shots leaked to the right.
“It could have been a really good round; I could have posted five under today and really been right back in this golf tournament. I put myself out of it a little bit the first two days.
“I’ve had too many loose shots out to the right. I'm going to go to the range and rectify it and get the swing back on track.”
Poulter was joined on four over by Rory McIlroy, after the World Number One carded a level par 70.
And like his Ryder Cup team-mate, the Northern Irishman was frustrated not to be closer to the leaders.
“I feel like I could have easily walked off the golf course last night, instead of shooting two 72s, shooting two 68s and being right in there,” said McIlroy.
“I'm just in a bad habit of turning good scores into average ones at the minute and that's why I'm in the position I'm in.
“If I can go out there and try to get to even par for the tournament as quickly as possible, you never know what can happen. I'll need something spectacular tomorrow.
“If I can hit the ball like I did today and have one of my best every putting rounds, I still have a chance. We'll see how that materialises.”
