Laurie Canter says some putting advice from former Ryder Cup star David Howell has been helping him on the greens after moving into contention at the halfway stage of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
A second straight round of 68 at Emirates Golf Club saw England's Canter reach the halfway stage on eight under par, three behind clubhouse leader Daniel Hillier.
Afterwards Canter praised Howell, who won five times on the DP World Tour during his career, for bringing the enjoyment back to his putting.
“I think I've driven the ball well,” said Canter. “The way the rough is, the way the greens are, you need to be able to hit the fairway a lot. I feel like I've hit a lot of fairways, and when I miss fairways, I've kind of maybe been in or around the semi rough or given myself a shot to the green.
“So I'd say that's a really important thing to do and I'm doing it well so far.
“I asked Howler, he's a member of the same golf club as me. I felt like if I could pick his brains and how he thought about putting, if any of that rubbed off on me. I've always kind of had the mindset of I need to practise it, and I particularly enjoyed it. I've just asked questions about how he thinks, how I practise, just asked him loads of questions.
“I've tried to listen to it and I think we just want to have fun. I think it's his first time coaching someone, so he's probably learning a bit.
“It is rubbing off on me. I enjoy my practice sessions with him, and I'm enjoying putting at the moment. It's obviously gone well in the first two days. Last week was pretty steady, too.”
Canter has also been inspired by his participation in last week's Team Cup, where he earned three points in Great Britain & Ireland's 17-8 victory.
“I just found it inspiring,” he added. “Like I think it was really inspiring, and more so than I thought. I thought it might just be a couple of teams playing match play. But it was so much more than that.
“Like all the stuff we got from the legends and being around captains and hearing their genuine experiences, about you want to play in the Ryder Cup.
“Obviously the Team Cup is a version of that, where everyone is trying to get to grips with that process. I felt like it was massively inspiring and a privilege to be around some of the legends.
“Yeah, I think I said last week, we do this so much that actually getting the chance to do that last week and being around those guys, I felt like I kind of fell back in love with the game in a way that I haven't maybe since I played amateur golf, just that whole head-to-head match play.”
