Freddy Schott attributed his recent upturn in form to feeling fully at home on the DP World Tour after Friday's 64 launched him up the Horizon Irish Open leaderboard.
The 22-year-old got his rookie season off to a relatively slow start after graduating from the European Challenge Tour in 2022, with the best result of his first 16 appearances a tie for 40th at the DS Automobiles Italian Open in May.
But the German has now well and truly found his feet, recording four top-15 finishes since.
And he demonstrated his enormous ability once again at The K Club on Friday as he carded nine birdies and a single bogey to sign for a 64 - the lowest round of the week so far.
That saw him head into the weekend on nine under par and very much in contention to claim a first DP World Tour title.
Schott said: "I felt like I was hitting it great the whole tournament so far and on the fifth hole my caddie said, 'let's enjoy it a little bit more and celebrate more' and I started off with four birdies in a row.
"That made it quite easy to enjoy it.
"I feel like I'm more able to call this Tour home now. Before it was more like a Challenge Tour player coming up and I didn't really know my place here.
"And now I'm starting to get to know so many more guys, and just start to be myself again, and yeah, obviously displayed in the results as well."
Schott has been impressed by what he has seen on his first visit to the Horizon Irish Open.
He added: "It's been amazing. Even what I saw in the practice round already was mind-blowing.
"Great crowds and obviously starting yesterday quite late, the course was packed and just an unbelievable experience. Really enjoyed it."
