Luke Buttigieg at Coolum, Sportal
Having entertained thoughts of shooting an extremely low score when he raced out of the blocks on Friday at the Australian PGA Championship, Queenslander John Senden had to concentrate on distracting himself from just that possibility in order to not derail himself.
After a disappointing start to the tournament at Coolum when he said he struck the ball well but had little luck converting that on his scorecard as he shot 73, Senden went nine shots better on Friday.
That means he heads into the weekend just four shots adrift of 36-hole leader Marcus Fraser, who shot 65, but for Senden it could have been an even more stunning performance.
After making birdie at the 1st hole he then matched playing partner Greg Chalmers' ace from Thursday with one of his own, and when he then also birdied the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th holes, he was seven under for the day.
"I mean there I was seven under through seven and I was thinking 'wow', but that's your goal to try and distract yourself away from that and just getting shots and keep getting the routine the same," Senden said.
"'Cause when the results come in you can get flashy and get out of your comfort zone and that's more like thinking about your result overall rather than let's just keep on doing your work and keeping golf shots for the day."
"That's what I have to do for the next couple of days to try and get it done."
Having felt 'a calmness' as he made his dominant start, which he believed was important on a front nine he believes offers plenty of opportunities, Senden added it was important to ensure he didn't give any shots back even though he lost momentum and made only one more birdie at the 11th.
"I felt that a little bit, say the last three holes, I wasn't hitting really good putts on 16, I hit a good putt on 17 but the last three or four holes, I had to really work hard to try and enjoy the moment coming down the stretch rather than making it a grind," he added.
"I didn't hit a great tee shot on 17 but then I had to take the medicine and then I got my karma on the third shot I hit it to about four or five feet and knocked that in so that keeps momentum going."
"I have always noticed the last few months that I'm always sort of waiting just to get on that momentum swing."
"Yesterday I never had my momentum, I hit some pretty good shots and played quite nicely but every time I sort of hit a shot it would end up in a bad spot, I hit a drive down 12 yesterday and it was just down the right and looking pretty good, it takes a bounce right."
"Today I probably hit not so good a drive on 12 and went left and had a shot so it is just the way it bounces, so I am trying to stay focused when I can."
As for his hole in one, Senden was delighted to make what was about the 12th of his career.
"Following Chalmers' lead was pretty nice there on the first day, it was definitely a good start," Senden said.
"I hit a good shot and when it landed I thought 'oohh' that's a good bounce it's just bounced just right and it was kind of heading for the stick and then when it landed and bounced then I thought it was close."