If birdies are the best remedy to restore a golfer's sagging confidence, then the last five holes at Glendower Golf Club did just that for Bradford Vaughan.
The Vanderbijlpark golfer squandered a significant advantage on Friday and had to do some crafty scrambling on Saturday to take the control in the second round of the R600,000 BMG Classic.
The 36-year-old was made to work hard for a two-under-par 70 by an unreliable swing and swirling winds, but three birdies in his six holes put Vaughan at six-under-par 138 with a one shot lead over unheralded young guns Ockie Strydom and Johan Bekker.
Strydom shot into contention with a five-under-par 67, while Bekker had a chance to tie Vaughan for the lead before an untimely bogey at the 17th spoilt his run. He signed off on a 70.
Former Africa Open champion Shaun Norris is alone in fourth after carding a 71, while rookie race leader Allan Versfeld launched himself into the bus at three under par with a best-of-the-day a 66.
The 20-year-old shares fifth place with defending champion Brandon Pieters (72) and last week's Suncoast Classic winner, Darren Fichardt (72), among others.
Vaughan got it to eight under par on Friday, but a bogey-bogey-double bogey run undid all the good work.
Determined to get his campaign back on track, Vaughan's second round derailed almost as soon as it started with bogeys at the first and fifth.
He said those birdies in his closing stretch put the spring back in his step after what he could only describe as a dismal round.
"I was just looking at my stats card and I hit three fairways the whole day," lamented Vaughan.
"I really struggled with my swing, after hitting it so well yesterday. The short game, thankfully, is really razor sharp at the moment. If it wasn't, I'd probably still be out there.
Vaughan has been in this position before but it has been five lean years since his last visit to the winner's circle.
"A lot can still happen, so I'm not taking anything for granted but it's nice to know that the game is nearly where it was a few years ago," said Vaughan as he headed to the driving range.
"But that's tomorrow's worry; right now I'm going to go and find my swing."
An eight-time Sunshine Tour winner, Vaughan is certainly a safe bet for victory if he can swing it half decent on Sunday, but Strydom could provide some unexpected fireworks.
The Nelspruit golfer turned pro at the end of 2009 and has enjoyed a rather profitable season on the 11-tournament Big Easy Tour.
After three runner-up finishes and two top 10s to finish fourth on the nursery Tour's Order of Merit, a solid finish at Glendower could see the 26-year-old capitalise with his maiden win.
"It feels good to at last get a really good round in," said Strydom. "It was tough out there with the wind but I'm very happy to be in second place at this stage."
TOP 10 LEADERBOARD
138 - Bradford Vaughan 68 70
139 - Ockie Strydom 72 67, Johan Bekker 69 70
140 - Shaun Norris 69 71
141 - Christiaan Basson 70 71, Ulrich van den Berg 67 74, Brandon Pieters 69 72, Allan Versfeld 75 66, Michael Scholz 71 70, Darren Fichardt 69 72, JG Claassen 72 69
golf365.com