Every shot counts in professional golf - just ask Callum Shinkwin.
The Englishman claimed his first European Tour title with a dramatic play-off victory over Kalle Samooja at the 2020 Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open but it is a win that has been a long time coming despite Shinkwin being just 27.
After an impressive amateur career that saw him win the 2013 English Amateur Championship and play in the Walker Cup later that year, Shinkwin finished a very respectable 34th on the Rankings in his first European Challenge Tour season.
A 13th place finish in 2015 saw him graduate onto the European Tour and after comfortably keeping his playing privileges in his rookie season, he had a chance to claim his first win in the following campaign.
After missing the green on the 72nd hole at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, Shinkwin needed to get up and down for a par and a Rolex Series victory.
But with a poor lie, the chip did not come out well and the resulting bogey sent the event to a play-off, one Shinkwin would lose to Rafa Cabrera Bello.
"You can always go ‘I deserved that last time’, but if you deserve it, it happens," he said after his victory at Aphrodite Hills Resort. "This time, not expecting it and it happened."
He finished 40th on the Race to Dubai in 2017 but lost his card the following season after finishing 119th and once again it was fine margins as he missed the cut by one shot at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Portugal Masters and Sky Sports British Masters.
"I went back to Q School not wanting to be there, which is understandable," he said. "Not many people want to go.
"I lost out by something really minor - three spots - in prize money, it was so small. I looked back and I missed three cuts by one shot.
"I had a lot of stuff going on at home that time which distracted me without me realising. I gave myself a kick up the backside and got my card back."
Despite not having a full exemption, five top tens in 2019 helped Shinkwin regain his card for 2020 and in Paphos at his 112th European Tour event, the big shot went his way.
Sitting one behind the leader on the 72nd green, Shinkwin holed a 54 foot eagle putt that briefly gave him the solo lead and once again handed him a place in a play-off - one he would not lose this time.
That monster putt was one of many clutch efforts that Shinkwin faced over the course of the week and he gives some of the credit for his improvement with the short stick to caddie Sam Robertshawe.
"This week I think I’ve called on him eight times and I’ve holed seven putts from there and obviously holed a lot more reading myself as well, which is obviously really good," he said.
"I’ve been out here since 2016, five years roughly. He’s now my third caddie.
"I’ve had two experienced caddies, one major winner, Andy (Sutton), and David McNeilly prior to that, who has won 33 times on Tour. Really good guys and good caddies, but for me I needed someone to help me with what I needed to work on. Holing more putts is what I needed.
"My pal Sam, who was in the England squad with me in 2012, he’s always been a decent putter and has been a pro himself for seven years. He stopped playing at the back end of last year and got into caddying.
"I offered him the job this year, played one event with him before lockdown.
"His experience and how he reads greens showed me that I can read them as well without doing much. My natural way of reading greens is really good, he just made me more confident."
The final putt that Shinkwin hit to win his first title was from eight feet on the first play-off hole but many will say it was the one on the 72nd hole that won the title.
But a chip from an iffy lie in Scotland three years earlier may have also played its part because, in this game, every shot counts - just ask Callum Shinkwin.
