Adam Scott is making no secret of his nagging pursuit of British Open redemption after storming into contention with a majestic round of ball-striking at St Andrews.
Scott, Jason Day, Geoff Ogilvy and Steven Bowditch have added more than a coat of green and gold lacquer to the Open leaderboard during a wild, wet, windy and twice suspended second round of the championship.
Scott was safely in the clubhouse at seven under par for the championship, two shots off the lead, after producing a magnificent bogey-free 67 on Friday.
As he awaited the completion of round two after winds of up to 65km/h rendered conditions unplayable on Saturday, Scott was one stroke ahead of Day, with Ogilvy (68) and Bowditch (69) four off the pace and also in the top 15.
But Scott is the undoubted sentimental favourite after enduring a series of heartbreaking near misses over the past three years.
None have been more gut-wrenching than his 2012 collapse, when the Queenslander leaked four shots in the final four holes at Royal Lytham to all but gift the Claret Jug to Ernie Els.
"I'm very motivated. I definitely let that one slip and I would love to be sitting here having won The Open - but I'm going to have to work hard for it," Scott said.
"I've had a couple good looks at it since then. I played really well last year and was just too far behind, and then at Muirfield (in 2013) I was leading on the back nine and (Phil) Mickelson finished great and I didn't.
"I think I'm playing with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder."
There's a sense of destiny the 35-year-old will fittingly tend to his unfinished business at golf's spiritual home on Sunday.
"It's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to play my way, in with a chance," Scott said.
"The last few years at The Open has been some of my favourite golf. Getting into contention at this championship and having a chance to lift the Claret Jug is what it's all about.
"This is a great position. I'm excited for my weekend."
Scott looked every bit a man believing he was ready to salute as he strode into the scorers' hut following his birdie-filled second round.
"Any time you can go bogey-free at a major, it's going to be a good round," he said.
"And in these conditions, it was really good."
After defying deteriorating conditions to pick up two strokes and move to eight under par on Friday, Day dropped two shots in two holes during the 45 minutes of play that was possible early on Saturday.
The world No.9 still had five holes to complete in round two and, like others, was facing the prospect of having to survive a gruelling schedule to claim victory.
Matt Jones and Greg Chalmers are both three under midway through their suspended second rounds, Brett Rumford is two under after successive 71s, while Marcus Fraser (69) and Marc Leishman (73) are both at one under and certain to make the halfway cut.
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