Ian Poulter dug himself out of a hole in spectacular fashion when the third of the FedEx Cup play-off events began at Cog Hill in Illinois.
After starting with a double-bogey six - just like Tiger Woods - Poulter came back with an eagle and six birdies for a five under par 66 that left him in third spot only two behind leader Matt Kuchar.
Poulter had begun on the back nine and at the 386 yard tenth he was bunkered in two, flew the green and then missed from under four feet.
"It was a bit of a kick in the teeth," he said.
"I needed more than ten seconds and was glad it was a long walk from the green to the 11th tee.
"I calmed down pretty quickly and turned a poor mindset into a good one."
A 73 foot putt on the short 14th certainly helped, as did a 12 footer for eagle on the next and a chip-in birdie from nearly 55 feet at the 18th.
By then Kuchar, the man everybody has to catch in the play-offs after his win in New Jersey two weeks ago, was already in with his 64.
Despite feeling unwell he also eagled the 15th, matched Poulter's six birdies and dropped his only stroke on the 383 yard eighth, where he went from one bunker to another.
Winner of the US Amateur title on the course in 1997 - he followed three-time champion Woods - Kuchar said: "I've got good memories of this place, so it continued to go well for me.
"Last week was a little bit suspect and this week I kind of figured some stuff out, hitting the ball solid and making some putts."
He led Ryan Moore, another former US Amateur champion, by one after Moore came bursting out of the pack with seven birdies in eight holes from the 11th for an inward 29.
Retief Goosen shot 67, Luke Donald and Justin Rose set off with 68s and Paul Casey with a 69.
Donald, joint second on Monday, five strokes behind Charley Hoffman, and Rose both had six birdies and three bogeys, with Donald saying: "Three bogeys was a little disappointing just because I didn't short game it well enough from relatively simple up-and-downs."
