Andrew Johnston was delighted to be truly feeling the buzz of professional golf again after making the cut at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
The man affectionately known as Beef is playing just his third DP World Tour event in 25 months after fighting a long-term hand injury.
He missed the entirety of the 2022 season and while he made the cut at the 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic, he once again found himself sidelined as the frustrating search for a solution to his injury issues continued.
Having now had surgery, he missed the cut by one shot at last week's Investec South African Open Championship, although a second-round 68 showed glimpses of the golf that made him a winner at the 2016 Open de España.
Rounds of 69-72 at Leopard Creek Country Club mean he will definitely be playing the weekend in South Africa and the 34-year-old is glad to once again have the competitive juices flowing.
"You don't get the buzz," he said of his absence. "You miss the adrenaline and those moments. Even playing 18 and being in a really anxious position, you miss that buzz about it.
"It means a lot. I'm in for the weekend and anything can happen on the weekend. If I drive the ball a bit better I know I can shoot a couple of good scores and see where we can finish."
After that opening 69, Johnston was heading up the leaderboard with three birdies in four holes from the 11th on day two and while he had to settle for a level-par round after a bogey-bogey finish, he will head into the weekend at three under.
Despite a bogey-bogey finish, @BeefGolf makes his first cut in just his second start since January 😍
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) December 8, 2023
It's good to have you back, Beef 🙌#DunhillChamps pic.twitter.com/tYkgSsD3mM
"I feel good," he said. "I was ticking along quite nicely but the 18th, I can't say the word I want to say on that hole! It's a brilliant hole but it's nasty as well and gave me a bit of a fright but in the end I made a good six.
"The putter has been really good, the short game has been good, bunker play has been good.
"With the hand injury... I used to hit quite a lot of golf balls and probably not do enough practice on my short game and now it's kind of reversed because I have to be wary of how many balls I'm going to hit and it's definitely paying off."
