Alexander Levy felt he was back to his old self as a stunning eagle on the last sealed his place in the final round of the 2020 Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown.
The Frenchman is not only one of the European Tour's most likeable characters but has spent much of the last decade as one of its most consistent performers.
After coming through the Qualifying School in 2012, Levy narrowly kept hold of his card the following season and then claimed two wins in 2014 as he finished in the top ten of the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
The next four seasons brought three more wins and four consecutive top 50 finishes in the season long standings but in 2019 Levy kept his playing privileges by virtue of his winner's exemption as he finished 125th with just seven made cuts.
So far this term he has yet to register a top ten with more cuts missed than made but his top 20 at the Scottish Championship presented by AXA last month represented his best finish in just over 12 months.
He may have missed the cut last week at Aphrodite Hills Resort but he bookended his back nine in the Saturday shootout this week with eagles as he carded a 66 to comfortably take his place in the top 16 for round four.
With a clean slate on Sunday, Levy is presented with his best chance for a victory for some time, and the 30-year-old feels he knows where his form is coming from.
"I feel my mentality is much better," he said. "I think I focused too much on technique and I lost a little bit of what I am as a player of golf - shape the ball and just enjoy it.
"I'm back a little bit on that and my results are much better."
Levy is famed for his swashbuckling style on the course and when he walked in an eagle from 30 feet on the last and gave a big celebration, it looked like a classic display.
But he revealed he had actually taken the cautious route to ensure his place in the Sunday showdown.
"I knew I needed to make a birdie because I knew four under would be the cut line," he said.
"I didn't aim for the flag with the wedge, that's normally not my style but I was putting really well today so I just played the safe side and holed a nice 10 metre putt.
"I'm really glad because I played really good golf down the stretch so that's the most important thing."
