Shane Lowry rescued his round by doing what only one other player managed at St Andrews yesterday - going birdie-birdie on the last two holes.
Chances galore fell the 2019 champion's way in his second round but, after the body blow of a double bogey on 16, Lowry realised he was flirting with missing the cut.
And that was after plotting his way around in 4-under par for his round and the championship to that point.
"I didn't birdie 14 to get to 5-under and if you do that, you feel you can get to six or seven - then I hit two great shots into 15 and missed that chance, and then I do that on 16 and all of a sudden I'm like, 'Jeez, I'm one bad swing from missing the cut here'."
Later, the Clara man cursed his decision not to lay up on 16 as playing partner Justin Thomas did.
Instead, an aggressive play off the tee left him in trouble in the rough and, after finding the bunker at the back of the green, it took him two shots to get out before he two-putted for a six.
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"Playing in the Dunhill here bit me there a little bit because it's easy in the Dunhill, it's soft, it's slow, you don't find yourself in those positions and I should have laid back," he said.
In that context, Lowry would have been crestfallen had he not pulled his fifth and sixth birdies out of the bag - like Rory McIlroy, sinking one at the Road Hole that only yielded six birdies all day.
"Overall I'm pretty happy obviously but I probably could have shot something in the mid-Sixties today," he said.
"But it is what it is, I shoulda, coulda, woulda, I finished nicely, which is great, I'm very happy I did that and I'll be able to watch the (Ireland v All Blacks) match in the morning!
"I just have to do my own thing and just keep playing. If I find myself 5-under after 9 tomorrow, great, it can be done out there and that's kind of what you need to hope for.
"But you don't go out firing at pins, you need to pick your moments and your time to go at flags."
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