Danny Willett was relishing the prospect of battling it out at the top of the lederboard at the UBS Hong Kong Open after a second-round 66 left him five shots off the lead.
The Englishman won two titles in the 2016 season, including a maiden Major Championship at the Masters Tournament, but he would be the first to admit that his form towards the end of the campaign was not up to his very high standards.
After a two-week break following the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, Willett began his 2017 season at Hong Kong Golf Club and revealed he was feeling refreshed as he aimed to get off to a winning start.
"It's nice to be in this position after the last few months," he said. "But it was nice last week, after DP World we obviously took a couple of weeks off because of the back and stuff and rested it well. Actually took some proper time off, which I've not been able to do for a while. That was really nice.
"Then came out here, probably as fresh as I've been for a month and a half, which is nice, and it's probably showed mentally more than anything. The frustrations, even when you hit bad shots, you don't let it get to you as much as I did probably in the previous couple of months.
"We played pretty well yesterday and didn't take loads of chances and played just nice and steady again today.
"It's a golf course where you've got to put your ball in position off the tee. You can take a few things on but as soon as you get in the rough around here, you've not got much control of your golf ball. The greens are a bit firmer this year and obviously then with a few tight pins, it makes it more difficult.
It's nice to be in this position after the last few months - Danny Willett
"We put the ball in position most of the day and I hit a lot of greens, so although we weren't close loads, we tried to make it as simple as possible. Two good days' work, I'd say."
Fellow Englishman Tommy Fleetwood fired a 68 to sit at six under alongside Willett and he was left to rue missed chances and a bogey on the last that saw him drop out of third place on his own.
"Could have been better, could have been worse," he said. "I didn't swing it great really. The ball went in the right direction a lot of the time but my swing never felt good.
"But when you look back at it, I had a few chances. Made a couple, missed a couple and played the last like an idiot. But all in all, two under, it's not bad. You just always feel like it could be better."
