Veteran American golf scribes saw the name Alistair Presnell just one shot off the lead midway through the second round of the US Open and the minds starting ticking over.
Presnell, Presnell – where have I heard that name before? Another major? No, the affable Aussie is on debut.
Then where? Australian golf fans and those close to the Victorian would be quick to remind them of the 2010 World Golf Championships at Doral in Florida where Presnell made his PGA Tour debut and blitzed home with an eight-under-par 64 to find himself tied sixth.
And while he had some late troubles on the treacherous Olympic Club course on Friday to drop from as high as third to a tie for 18th, Presnell remains the leading Australian at the halfway point at four-over, five behind leaders Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and David Toms.
Now, he will try to channel the memories of Doral over the weekend.
“This is awesome,” he said after finishing his round to the cheers of a vocal gallery, including his mother Fiona.
“It’s a perfect place to be really. Not too far back but not in the main focus. Hopefully, I can do something similar to what I did at Doral.
“This gives me a huge amount of confidence going forward.
“It’s my first major, I’ve made the cut and I’m still not far out of an opportunity to do something big over the weekend.”
Presnell might well have been closer to the lead if not for a rushed bathroom break as he made the turn.
He played the back nine first and the walk from the 18th to the first is long and very much uphill leaving him with little time to do his business.
“I needed to go to the bathroom and I ran in there and ran out and I was probably stiff, huffing and puffing, when I hit my tee shot on the first,” he admitted.
The result was the ball sailed into a terrible lie and, by the end of the hole, he was writing down a double-bogey six.
He had three further bogeys in the next five holes.
“It snowballed a little but I didn’t feel that out of place,” he said.
“I guess I did start steering the ball a little which didn’t work out for me but, to finish with a birdie on the second last hole, will take me to bed comfortably.
“I’m so thrilled to be a part of this. I remember getting up early to watch majors like every little boy watching Norman or someone doing the business in the past.
“I’m excited for tomorrow.”
John Senden is the next best Australian six shots off the pace at five-over-par in a tie for 29th while Jason Day (+6), Adam Scott (+6) and Rod Pampling (+7) all managed to make it to the weekend.
Geoff Ogilvy (+10), Brendan Jones (+11), Anthony Summers (+12) and Aaron Baddeley (+14) all failed to make the cut.
