Jordan Gumberg's first 99 DP World Tour appearances have largely been about finding somewhere to play and staying there – he is hopeful his next 99 will bring the consistency to be among the world's very best.
As the American makes his 100th DP World Tour start at this week's Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, he is left to reflect on a roller coaster three years on golf's Global Tour.
He went from a win on an invite in just his 14th appearance to making a hole out eagle on the 72nd hole of his 69th to keep his card.
Appearance number 78 brought a second triumph and this week at Yas Links he enjoys a double milestone as his 100th also coincides with his Play-Off debut.
It is just over 12 months since, under the pressure of playing for his job, Gumberg made that eagle at the Genesis Championship and created one of the most memorable moments of recent seasons.
The stakes may not be quite so high this week but the 31-year-old has the chance to play his way into next week's DP World Tour Championship as one of the top 50 available players on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World.
Two very good weeks could even see him claim one of the ten available dual memberships with the PGA Tour, so Gumberg is eager harness everything he has learned in his 99 appearances so far and embrace the pressure in the UAE.
"I think the next step is figuring out how to be more consistent," he said. "Figuring out how to contend in the bigger events we have out here: the Irish Open, Wentworth, this, those kind of events, Scottish.
"Backing myself a little bit more the next couple of years. It's just saying, 'listen, you're out here, you're a two-time winner. Go play like a two-time winner'.
"I feel like sometimes with me, when after I've won, with all that stress and pressure off, it's been hard for me to really kind of put pressure on myself to go play well.
"I like playing under that pressure. I like the feeling of you have to get it done this week or you're going home. I'm kind of looking at this week as a little bit like that.
"It's kind of top ten or go home. So I like that little bit of an extra pressure on myself to just get it going.
"I'm lucky that I have a tee time this week and anything can happen. And if you go out and play well this week, you could be staring at a PGA Tour card. You never know."
Despite a victory that helped him to the Play-Offs, it says much about Gumberg's ambition that he would critique his season so far as "a disappointment more than I would a huge success".
Since that victory at the Hainan Classic presented by MAEXTRO, he has made just five of 21 cuts, with 35 weekends played in his 99 total starts.
That perhaps explains his search for consistency and in that quest he has recently started working with Jamie Gough, a coach to multiple DP World Tour winners both past and present.
The partnership is in its early stages having started at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship but Gumberg believes it is already beginning to bear fruit.
"I started working with Jamie Gough and we've got the swing now feeling a little bit more comfortable and hopefully more consistent," he said.
"I started working with him at the Dunhill Links. Just kind of asked him for some help there and he's kind of taken me under his wing and given me some good insight. Between him and my coaches back home, we've kind of developed a little plan of where we want the swing to go and it's now starting to kind of take form.
"When the game is on, I'm in there and in contention, when it's off, I haven't been. And it's now for me trying to figure out how to compete when my best stuff's not there. The line in this game is so fine of what's of winning or losing or winning or coming in 50th.
"And a lot of that just has to do with me putting better, chipping better, and really just hitting it closer. I think I was top 20 in greens in regulation but I was hitting it to 35, 40 feet. It's hard to score from 35, 40 feet.
"So there's a little bit of a mentality there of be more aggressive, go at more pins, back yourself, trust yourself. And the last couple of weeks I've done that and it's felt a lot better. I've had a lot more opportunities."
Gumberg's win in China helped him finish in the top three on the Asian Swing which secured his second major Championship appearance at the US PGA Championship.
He was on course to make the cut before dropping four shots in three holes but chose to take the positives from the week as he looks to make Major appearances a regular occurence.
"I loved that golf course at Aronomink," he said. "Played actually very solid. The greens were lightning fast.
"I was right in there right until the end and I think the stress of hitting good shots and not getting rewarded around that place kind of got to me on those last four holes.
"But I mean, hopefully soon we'll get in some more Majors and actually close the door and play and make a cut and finish in a top ten or 20 or even win them. You never know."
While Major appearances and dual membership are all for the potentially not too distant future, a milestone appearance gives Gumberg a chance to reflect on his DP World Tour career so far.
As one of just three Americans teeing up this week, he admits he has not taken the conventional route of many of his countryman but he is still enjoying a journey that may only just be beginning,
"We're super happy to be out here," he said. "We love this tour. We love everybody on this tour.
"It's a cool milestone to have. I think I've got 500 more to go before I catch some of the other guys but I'm happy to have that opportunity to go chase that.
"To now call myself a two-time winner on the DP World Tour is super cool. I hope we don't stop there. I hope there's more."
