Hull-based David Lynn has made a flying start at golf's famous Masters tournament.
A superb first round of 68 saw him briefly take the lead at Augusta on Thursday and he will resume today just two shots behind Spanish star Sergio Garcia.
The performance is even more remarkable because, at the age of 39, David, who practices at Hull Golf Club, is making his debut at the prestigious event.
He has come late to prominence. After years of slowly working his way up the ranks, a second-place finish at last year's PGA Championship transformed his career.
But just weeks before that defining tournament, his girlfriend in East Yorkshire had to help him avert a crisis of confidence which almost saw him abandon the game.
Unable to face taking part in a competition at Wentworth, he turned to partner Sally Moore for advice.
They met in Hessle three years ago when he was on a night out with his footballing pal Jimmy Bullard and he says he owes some of his recent success to her unrelenting support.
Sally said: "I remember in May at Wentworth Dave rang me on the Thursday morning when he was going to play and he said, 'I can't do it' and I went, 'you are kidding me?'.
"He said, 'I feel like I'm going to start and I'm going to have to run off'.
"I said, 'no, it'll be fine, I'll be coming down tomorrow, I'm going to finish work early, you'll be fine'."
Reassured, he did compete and just weeks later, the couple were together for the PGA in South Carolina, where David was beaten only by Rory McIlroy.
"It's strange how that week went, it was only the second time I had actually played in a major," David said.
"The feel is always different, it is on a grander scale.
"You've got all the world's elite there so there is a little bit more to it.
"The crowds are obviously good. I was in America for the first time, but the scary thing was how relaxed I was.
"On the Sunday, for the final round, I got on the tenth tee, which is something the commentators always go on about, the last nine holes of a major.
"I thought, 'this is going to be interesting, how I react to these next two-and-a- half-hours' and I was absolutely fine.
"I actually could have birdied the last five holes comfortably.
"And it did help having Sal walk around. Every now and then we'd just have a look at each other."
Sally has spent the last 18 years working for her family business, John Moore Security, and her commitment to the firm has seen the couple settle in East Yorkshire, buying a house in Kirk Ella which they are in the process of renovating.
Sally said: "He plays better when I go, I just can't go all the time because of work.
"I couldn't believe it when I kept seeing his name go up the leaderboard and I was taking pictures because I was thinking, 'he's beating Tiger Woods'."
His success has brought attention not only to David, but to them both as a couple.
Sally said: "People who I don't know will say well done or people have rang up the office to say we don't know him but we just want to congratulate him and it must be nice for you both."
Despite a win in 2004, eight second places and more than 50 top tens in 350 starts, David arrived in America virtually unknown to the US media.
However, the press there quickly warmed to him.
"I mess around a little bit on Facebook and I'm a bit of a joker, which they quite liked," David said.
"I used to do quite a bit of planking, I've done quite a few stupid planks and I quite like all that stuff."
He even shared stories with reporters of feeding an alligator which lived in a lake at the back of the house he was renting.
"You weren't supposed to feed them, it was a $5,000 fine and that's like a red rag to a bull coming from the UK," David said.
"You see an alligator, you want to feed it."
Subsequent newspaper reports falsely claimed David had nearly had to pull out of the tournament because he'd stood on the creature, but as someone who doesn't take himself too seriously, he in unruffled by such attention.
"Don't get me wrong, if you saw me on the golf course you would think I was as serious as anything because if I am in the middle of a tournament round I don't like to speak an awful lot and I do actually focus in," he said.
The livelier atmosphere in America for the PGA Championship, however, was something he drew-on.
"I was so enjoying the crowd," David said.
"It's more quiet in Europe. It just suited me that week. There will be other weeks where I wouldn't want to engage in conversation with the crowds."
After the wobble at Wentworth, David's build-up had been relaxed too, with just a few light practice sessions on courses in Hessle and Kirk Ella.
David said: "I'd had four weeks off prior to going out there.
"For three weeks of those four, I never touched my golf clubs because I do like to have some time away from them when I can.
"In the last week, when I'd got the call to say I was going, I did some light practice.
"The game felt good and when I turned up out there and practised for the first time it felt good again so it was just a case of hoping I could take my practice game on to the course which I did.
"But what you have to remember is I've been doing this for 16 years now so I've got a lot of experience behind me and as someone said, it was like an overnight success after 16 years."
Now 39, he hasn't forgotten those who helped in the early years, especially when it comes to handing out coveted Masters tickets received as part of his selection.
"The first person who got the call was an old sponsor who backed me for six years when I first started so he is absolutely made-up," David said.
More recently, East Yorkshire jewellers Blowers Watches came on board as a sponsor and with a self-confessed indulgence in timepieces, it may be that some of David's $865,000 second place prize winnings will be spent with the firm.
The cash isn't burning a hole in his pocket, and having learnt from his experience after his win eight years ago, he is keen to get back to normality and aim for more.
"I know when I won the event in 2004, it affected me for several months afterwards," David said.
"I learnt from that. Now I've got to where I am at 39th in the world, I want to try and kick on higher.
"I've almost got my second wind at the moment."
Looking ahead, David might at least think differently when it comes to planning his travel arrangements.
Little expecting such success at last year's PGA in America, his flight home had been booked too early – he was still playing – so he and Sally hitched a ride with amateur-days friend Padraig Harrington.
David said: "Sal said, 'that's good of the Harringtons, is their car big enough?'
"I said, 'Sal, we're going on his plane'.
"I've known Padraig for 23 years anyway, we played amateur golf together, it's just our careers have gone on different trajectories.
"I've always known that I've got golf like that in me but now I've managed to do it on the big stage for the first time.
"I've had a good career – I've had a really good career – but you never make it to where you want to be and then all of a sudden to thrust myself to do what I did, I think 'hang on a minute, there is still a bit of life in the old dog yet'.
"And now to be included in fields like the Masters, which is just a dream come true, it gives you a new lease of life."
If he remains in contention for the Green Jacket on Sunday evening, he may find that new lease of life lasting just a little bit longer.This is an edited version of an interview that appeared in the The Journal magazine.
