Henrik Stenson was delighted to be back at the right end of the leaderboard at a Major Championship after firing a sensational 65 in the second round of The 145th Open Championship.
It was wet and windy at times at Royal Troon but that did not prove a problem to the Swede as he made seven birdies to sit just a shot behind Phil Mickelson at nine under.
Stenson had a remarkable run in golf's four biggest tournaments in 2013 and 2014, achieving four top fives in six events from the 2013 Open to the 2014 US PGA Championship.
The 40 year old has not been in the mix since, however, and is hopeful to stay in contention over the weekend as he goes in search of that elusive first Major.
"My goal was to put myself in contention, I've done that halfway through," he said. "We've got another 27 to play before it gets really interesting. So that was my goal.
I haven't been in contention for the last six Majors and that was a big, big goal of mine to try and be up there and give myself a chance. So far, so good - Henrik Stenson
"I just wanted to turn things around because I know I'm 40. I'm not going to play these tournaments forever and ever. I don't have another 50 goes at them. It might be a dozen or 15 in total.
"So I better start putting myself in position and giving myself chances if I want to make it happen. After six tournaments not being there, it's certainly time to get going."
Søren Kjeldsen is an expert at playing in tough, links conditions and showed his prowess in his victory at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation in 2015.
The Dane fired a bogey-free 68 on Friday to sit two shots behind Stenson and he feels - after his recent surge back up the Official World Golf Ranking and seventh-placed finish at the Masters Tournament - he can go on and claim Major glory.
"I was struggling for a couple of years," he said. "I found it really, really hard. I had a couple of problems in my game that I struggled to solve and turning 40, you've certainly heard that story before when people get to 40 and then it's downhill from there.
"So I was fighting pretty hard, but determined to get through, and it's nice being in this position now.
"Having those years where I really struggled to get through that and going from feeling so weak on the course to feeling so strong, winning in Ireland and playing great last year, playing great at the Masters this year, I don't feel intimidated by anybody.
"I think I won the battle within, and I think that was a tougher battle to win than against any other player."
