Richie Ramsay arrived at St Andrews extolling the benefits of a glass half-full mindset on the golf course.
But by the time he had left Fife his pint was down to the dregs and he looked like a man ready to switch from lager tops to something a bit stronger.
The Scot was a tortured soul after a finish of four successive bogeys put the tin lid on an Open campaign that was thwarted by tribulations on and around the greens.
“The short game just killed me,” Ramsay, who was two over for the day and one under for the tournament, admitted.
“Every time I missed a green, I didn’t get up-and-down today, and then had three three-putts in there from shortish distance.
“The last four holes were tough to take. It just felt like a wasted opportunity on a course that I know well, and just putted rubbish.
“The game doesn’t feel far away, but at the moment, my mindset is just. I don’t really have anything good to say about it.
“I’m sure it’ll change in the next few days, but if it was going to turn out and be like that, it’s pointless. I might as well just give someone else a chance to play.”
Sorting out the mindset that he doesn’t have anything good to say about, and with it his short game, is easier said than done. But he might be going to the right place to do it.
Ramsay is a former winner of the Omega European Masters at Cran-sur-Sierre and back in 2012 he was heading there similarly troubled with his game.
He said: “I’m going to Omega but I can’t even think about that at the moment. If I’m going to putt and chip like that, there’s no point in going. “I’m going to go and sort that out, hit the gym tonight and try and get a little bit better.
“I don’t work to come out and play like that. It’s great to be out there, don’t get me wrong, but every one of us is out there to win.
“We’re not out there to finish 70th in the tournament. It’s a bit of a joke to be honest. I’ve got to sit down and look at it.
“My driver and my iron play is good. All the areas that you’re scoring need to be better, and that’s the problem. That’s where the top guys are way better than me.
“But if I flip that around, I could shoot 74 and turn it into 64, it’s that big a difference. You’re looking at seven or eight shots a round.”
There you are glass half-full again Richie.