World Number Two Lee Westwood's pursuit of a first Major - this is the 55th of his career - was very much still alive after a 68 brought him to one under and joint 15th place midway through another hot day at the US PGA Championship.
The Englishman looked exhausted as he finished a slow round six behind overnight leader Steve Stricker – who was just teeing off - but when asked about the speed of play quipped: "The last thing I wanted today was to move quicker!"
He went into the tournament vowing to try less in the hope that it would pay dividends.
"It's hard," he added. "It's difficult to try your hardest and not care about the results. They contradict one another.
"But I'm breezing around out there and trying to smile whenever I can and not really worry about what's going on too much.
"I think that's why after bogeying two and three I came back with birdies on four and five (and seven). Maybe the 'trying too hard' me would have bogeyed the next after that."
Westwood had also been in the water on the 457 yard 11th, his second, but got out of it with a bogey and was satisfied with his day's work in the end.
He had teed off yesterday with Stricker having already posted his 63.
"When you see seven under is leading you are under pressure," said Westwood.
"But I said at the start of the week that I thought six under was going to win and it might still."
Rory McIlroy was left wishing he could have one shot again after a second round 73 in Atlanta.
However, that shot is not the moment he injured his right arm against a tree root on day one.
Instead, it was his six iron tee shot to the short 17th on his return to the course.
Suffering from a strained tendon and thankfully nothing more serious, the 22 year old US Open Champion - his arm still bandaged - had moved only two strokes off the lead when he came to his eighth hole of the day.
It came up short in the lake and, by three-putting for a triple bogey six, McIlroy's hopes of a second Major title this season suffered a huge blow.
"Even with a broken wrist I should be putting better than this," he said.
After signing for a three-over halfway total of 143, he was ten adrift of American Stricker, who had still to tee off again following his Major record-equalling 63.
"Yesterday there were a couple of points where I thought it might have been better to walk in," McIlroy said.
"But I wanted to play through and I felt like I'm hitting the ball okay.
"When I woke up this morning (after a hospital scan revealed no tear) it was stiff, but it wasn't as painful."
He warmed up on the range and practice putting green for only 25 minutes rather than his usual hour or more, but was never in doubt he could continue the last Major of the year.
On his triple bogey, he said: "I was between six and seven iron (a new club sent from California overnight after he broke his original against the tree root) and I ended up going with six, but the wind affected it a little more than I wanted it to."
On the shot that had damaged his arm, meanwhile, McIlroy commented: "Hindsight is a great thing, but looking back it was a mistake in judgment. I thought I would be able to get away with it."
The World Number Four was also asked if caddie JP Fitzgerald should have prevented him from hitting the shot.
"He's my caddie, not my father!" he replied.
McIlroy had to wait to see how far off the lead he would be going into the weekend, but stated: "I feel as if I can make birdies out there.
"If I don't think I could contend I probably wouldn't be playing. And if it wasn't a major I probably would have stopped yesterday."
McIlroy was playing with Open Champion Darren Clarke, who did not have a single birdie in rounds of 78 and 76 that added up to 14 over.
"I'm done," he said after he looked ahead to going on holiday. "I won't look at my clubs for ten days. I'm just shattered."
England's Simon Dyson, another member of the stable, was as high as fourth after a birdie on the seventh, but the Irish Open champion double-bogeyed the eighth and 11th and finished with a 72 for level par.
As for Tiger Woods, needing a sub-par score in all probability to make the cut after his initial 77, he parred the first three holes, including the second after driving into the trees.
There looked to be a significant move being made by Australian Adam Scott, winner of last week's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
He birdied three of the first five to climb to four under and joint third with clubhouse leader D A Points as Stricker parred the first hole to remain two in front of his fellow Wisconsin golfer Jerry Kelly.
The odds on Woods missing the cut in the event for the first time shortened further when he pitched over the green at the long fifth and plugged in a bunker.
It led to a bogey six and on eight over he was joint 113th. The cut at the moment would fall on three over, but it looked likely to go out by two or three shots.
Stricker dropped his first shot on the third, but with Kelly bogeying the second he remained two in front.
World Number One Luke Donald double-bogeyed the second, leaving him two over, but Ross Fisher was up to level par after a birdie on the fifth.
Stricker birdied the par five fifth, but by bogeying the next was only two ahead of Points, Kelly and Scott.
Woods slumped to 117th place with another bogey at the short seventh, but did make a 18 footer for birdie on the next and at eight over could not be counted out yet.
Fisher, meanwhile, moved alongside Westwood in 16th spot at one under by also grabbing a birdie on the eighth. By parring the next he was out in 33.
Stricker bogeyed again on the ninth for an outward 38 and on four under was one behind new outright leader Scott Verplank.
Fisher remained two under with four to go and Donald birdied the 12th and 13th to return to level par.
