Pablo Larrazábal was delighted to see the hard work paying off as he produced his "best golf of the year" to move into contention at the midway stage of the BMW PGA Championship.
A nine-time DP World Tour winner, with four of those coming in 2022 and 2023, the Spaniard knows what it takes to contend at the top of a leaderboard but the last two seasons have been a disappointment by his high standards.
A runner-up finish in Bahrain is joined by just two other top tens and after missing the DP World Tour Play-Offs last season, he is now battling on the Back 9 to force his way into the top 70 on the DP World Tour Rankings.
Part of that battle is hard work on the range and Larrazábal was happy to see the fruits of his labour over the first two days at Wentworth Club.
"I played the last two days, probably the best golf of the year," he said after carding a second consecutive 67. "I've been working as hard as I have ever done and the results are coming. I played great tee-to-green, really good patience, and today I played very, very good. I didn't hit very, very good putts in the middle of the round, I couldn't make many.
"And then I finished very strong and I am happy to be back, surrounding the top of the leaderboard. It's been a while. It's been probably nine months since I'm in this position. But I know how it is. This is my 18th season and I've been up there a couple of times.
"I found what I've been working on on the range. You know, sometimes it's tough to do the same swing on the range then when it matters on the golf course but when you picture a shot and it comes exactly the same way as you plan it, it gives you confidence.
"The second shot to 18 is a ten out of ten shot and I hit a lot of ten out of ten shots yesterday and today.
"When you start like that, it builds something. Obviously my short game is back where it should be. I've chipped in a couple of times already. But you know, as a Spaniard, it's normal. I'm ready for some weekend golf."
If he is to reach double figures in the win column on Sunday, Larrazábal will have to overcome one of the strongest fields of the season, with the likes of Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg, Justin Rose and Hideki Matsuyama all in the upper echelons of the leaderboard, with a host of other stars including Rory McIlroy featuring in the third Rolex Series event of the season.
But Larrazábal is not intimidated and is ready to go blow for blow with Major champions and Ryder Cup stars.
"It's fun when you suddenly have a lot of the best players in the world playing this tournament," he said. "I'm ready. I know how they play and I know with my A Game, I can beat them. It's going to be fun."
