Coming into The Open, Jamie McLeary had missed nine cuts in a row in his debut season on the European Tour.
And stopping nine becoming 10 couldn’t have happened at a better time for the Fifer.
McLeary was out early in the morning and posted a second straight 73. He knew then that it would be touch and go whether he was still going to be around for the weekend.
When the 33-year-old was sitting on level par with four holes left (two of them par fives) it didn’t appear that he would have to concern himself with the cut mark.
But both those par fives were bogeyed, and he left the course fearing he wouldn’t be returning for rounds three and four.
Even if he there hadn’t been another two rounds to look forward to, McLeary would have left Liverpool buoyed for the rest of the season by his Open performance.
He explained: “I’m quite proud of myself. I played really well on both days and had things had gone differently I could have shot mid to high 60s on both days.
“And today I only played three bad shots all day, which cost me my three bogeys.
“I went out of bounds on the last, which was a really bad shot. To do that off the tee isn’t easy. It’s a long way right.
“But I managed to make birdie with my second ball. I’d half given up when I was hitting my provisional.
“But then, when I was walking up the fairway I told myself that if I made birdie with the second ball I could still get in. I hit the shot I should have hit with my first drive.
“My ball was on the tightest lie on the back of a bunker at the green and I managed to get it to two or three feet and make the putt.”
He added: “I played well for two days the best I’ve played all year by a mile.
“So even if my next golf is in Russia next week, I’ll be going there with high hopes. I’ll take a lot out of this week. Maybe if I’d been coming in here in better form the golf I played would have seen me at four or five under.
“I was practising with my dad on Sunday. We were talking about how my swing used to look when I was about 20. I used to hit it straighter back then.
“He mentioned a couple of things which we’ve worked on in the range and I think it has worked. I’m now looking forward to the rest of the year and I still think I can do well.”
It wasn’t the prospect of another missed cut that precipitated McLeary’s late slump.
He pointed out: “Because I was playing well I didn’t let the cut affect me. When I birdied 11, I thought there were so many downwind holes and two par fives. I was aiming for about two under at that point.
“It was only when I bogeyed 16 that I started to think about the cut mark. I knew it was tight then.”
McLeary’s five days at Royal Liverpool have whetted his appetite for the weekend and more Opens beyond.
“This has been like nothing else I’ve ever experienced,” he said.
“I actually thought it would be similar to Wentworth, which is a big tournament. But it’s on a different level.
“The stands are incredible. They define the golf course. Today it was really busy. When I was playing yesterday the big crowds were out at the turn with Rory and Tiger but there were a lot more people today.”