Paul Casey insisted it is no coincidence that his performances have improved since the return of his caddie John McLaren after following up an opening 68 with a sparkling 67 on day two of the US PGA Championship.
Englishman Casey missed the cut in each of the two US PGA Tour events he played prior to last week's WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational - McLaren's first event back since the coronavirus hiatus.
McLaren had been in the United Kingdom with his family but has joined up with Casey once more and the World Number 28 is reaping the rewards.
After posting rounds of 69 and 67 over the weekend in Memphis, Casey has started strongly in the first Major Championship of the year this week.
He suffered the disappointment of carding a closing double bogey on Thursday but bounced back with three birdies and no bogeys on Friday to head into the weekend just three shots behind leader Li Haotong.
After his round, Casey said: "Overall, through 36 I'm very, very happy.
"I've got John McLaren back on the bag. It's his second week back because obviously he's over in the UK and with travel restrictions and his young family there he's wanted to be home.
"I've honestly missed him, I've missed fans out on the golf course and I'm slowly getting the energy back. So yeah, the last two days have been great fun.
"I spoke yesterday to a couple of guys and I think my poor performances recently have really been down to predominantly two things - one not having John on the bag.
"He's not (just) my caddie, he's my caddie and he's my friend and so much more. We have a laugh together, we stay together this week in our little bubble, just the two of us.
"And he adds so much to my game that it's almost pretty clear and pretty evident, you're seeing it right there - poor performances up until now, then he turns up and I feel like I've got my mojo back.
"That and honestly I've struggled with the lack of fans. I'm really missing the energy and I've found it strange standing up on the first tee and not being nervous.
"I've lacked energy, plain and simple. I felt very, very flat. I'm slowly getting it back but it's not the same. I want the fans to be back - I know it's not going to happen for a while because we're still in the middle of a pandemic but I wish they were out here."
