Rory McIlroy refused to let a closing double bogey six take any of the shine off another marvellous performance at the US Open Championship.
And no wonder - the 22 year old phenomenon finished his second round an incredible eight shots clear of the field and by adding a 66 to his opening six under par 65 had posted the lowest halfway total in the 111-year history of the championship.
If only he had avoided going into the lake with his approach to Congressional Country Club's 523 yard par four last he would also have taken the lowest 36-hole aggregate in any Major off Sir Nick Faldo.
But there was so much else to admire, including a holed approach to the eighth for an eagle two that drew applause from playing partner Phil Mickelson, that the finish just seemed a minor blip rather than a stunning setback.
"I'm feeling good - feeling very good," said the player after taking another huge step towards keeping the trophy in Northern Irish hands following Graeme McDowell's triumph last June.
And this, of course, after the whole of Europe had gone 40 years without lifting it - and 43 years before Tony Jacklin's 1970 victory.
"It's funny to me. It feels quite simple. I'm hitting fairways, I'm hitting greens, I'm holing my fair share of putts.
"It's been two very, very good days of golf. I've put myself in a great position going into the weekend.
"But I know more than probably anyone else what can happen, so I've got to stay really focused and try and finish this thing off."
At the Masters Tournament in April, of course, he was four ahead with only 18 holes to go, shot 80 and finished ten behind Charl Schwartzel.
Winning golf's very next Major after that experience would be the stuff of dreams, but that is what it is all about - not 36-hole records or becoming the first player in US Open Championship history to reach 13 under par, which he did with a 15 foot putt on the 17th.
"These records, they're nice, but they don't really mean anything until the end of the tournament," he added.
"If I can look back on this tournament with a trophy in my hand and look back at the records that would be nice."
Whether he would also equal the biggest 36-hole lead in any Major remained to be seen.
That was the nine of Sir Henry Cotton in 1934 and Korean YE Yang, the one player who was eight behind as McIlroy spoke after his round, still had 12 holes to play.
For McIlroy to be doing what he is doing at his age is truly remarkable.
He is a few months younger than Jack Nicklaus was when he lifted the first of his 18 Majors in 1962 and would be the youngest person to lift the trophy since another legend of golf - amateur Bobby Jones - in 1923.
Resuming three clear, he made a 25 footer at the fourth and pitched over water to six feet for another birdie on the long sixth.
The unexpected eagle two, courtesy of spinning a 113 yard wedge into the cup, enabled him to turn in 32 and then came further birdies at the 14th from four feet, long 16th - he actually missed a ten foot eagle chance there - and 17th.
But then came a hook into the rough down the last and a second that curled into the water on the left. He had not had a bogey all week until then.
McIlroy stated: "It's been very near the best I can play. The second on the eighth was a bonus, but I hit a couple of iron shots on the back nine that were so pure.
"I'm halfway there, but there's still a long way to go. It's a big challenge, but every time I put myself in position I am becoming more and more comfortable and that's important.
"I felt very much at ease today - you are when you hit so many good shots."
Of the other early starters the next best in the clubhouse were Spain's Sergio Garcia and Americans Zach Johnson, Brandt Snedeker and Robert Garrigus on two under, nine adrift.
Five-time runner-up Mickelson would have been alongside them if he had birdied the last - and that after starting the day 62nd - but he also found water on the 18th and double-bogeyed for a 69 and one over total.
England's Robert Rock - he of the visa problems that meant he arrived only at 3.30am Thursday - remained one under after a 71, but admitted jet-lag had caught up with him.
Top two Luke Donald and Lee Westwood were among the afternoon starters like Yang. Westwood birdied the second to join his fellow Englishman on three over, one inside the expected halfway cut mark.
McIlroy's lead was cut to six when Yang hit his tee shot - with a fairway wood - to six feet on the seventh and then rolled in a curling 20 footer two holes later.
He was out in a bogey-free 34, but had the tougher half to come and had to wait to play it because play was suspended just after 4pm because of an approaching storm.
Westwood and Donald had both birdied the sixth, but while Donald made another at the eighth to get to one over - one behind McDowell and Harrington - Westwood bogeyed it to be three over.
It was less than a 45-minute delay and on the resumption Yang found sand at the short tenth, but splashed out to within a few feet and remained six behind.
Donald and Westwood both birdied the long ninth, Donald joining McDowell and Harrington in joint 14th spot on level par and Westwood two further back.
Yang made his first mistake when he badly missed the green left on the 11th. It cost him a bogey and after coming back with a six foot birdie he was wild again at the short 13th.
A second dropped shot there returned him to four under and put McIlroy seven in front again.
With five and six to play respectively Harrington and McDowell remained level par, but Donald bogeyed the 12th after driving into sand to be back to one over, one better than Westwood.
