But for a three-hole spell in which he leaked five shots, Shane Lowry could conceivably be heading into the weekend of The 143rd Open Championship with his name at the very top of the leaderboard.
As it is, the affable Irishman finds himself on one under par and four shots adrift of George Coetzee’s clubhouse lead after signing for a level par round of 72 which was anything but regulation.
On a blustery day at Royal Liverpool Golf Club which played to his strengths, Lowry briefly flirted with the top of the leaderboard after compensating for his bogey at the fourth hole with a birdie at the fifth.
But then the wheels appeared to fall off, as he squandered a succession of shots from the seventh hole, following up a three-putt double bogey there with another double at the eighth – where his tee shot went out of bounds – before dropping a further shot on the ninth.
But to his eternal credit, the two-time European Tour champion staged a courageous fight-back after the turn, coming home in 35 strokes courtesy of birdies at the 11th and 18th holes.
Speaking afterwards, Lowry was left to rue his 45 mad minutes, but was still able to accentuate the positives after reaching the weekend in a handy position.
He said: “It was a tough day because it felt like I hadn’t really hit a bad shot over two days, and all of a sudden after that rough patch from the seventh, I’m back to one over. But I’m proud of myself the way I regrouped and the way I played the back nine.
“I gave myself a chance on pretty much every hole on the way in, but just didn’t really hole anything. But it was nice to birdie the last and get back to under par, and I feel like I’m definitely playing well enough to make a charge on the weekend.”
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