With one putt on 16 Eddie Pepperell was joint leader of The Open.
And then with one bad swing of his driver on 17 Eddie Pepperell was back down the leaderboard.
Or, as the man himself joked on social media, his ball had found its way into his bedroom at the Old Course Hotel.
It wasn’t quite that wayward, but it was nearer there than the fairway, that’s for sure.
On a day of fluctuating fortunes for many, nobody’s fluctuated faster and more dramatically than the Englishman’s.
Was it a classic case of catching sight of a leaderboard and we all know the rest? Not according to the man himself. Well, not quite.
“I hadn’t looked,” he said. “But I wasn’t at all focused, I didn’t care where I was at on the leaderboard.
“I felt really confident coming off 16. Holing that putt was a really good putt to hole for me, and maybe that tee shot was down to a little bit of complacency, not focusing on the right thing in my routine.
“But this is golf, and we all know how tough it is, into wind off the left on 17, it doesn’t get much tougher than that, and I didn’t quite master it today.”
Pepperell was blunt with his self-assessment.
“I don’t feel like I’m actually swinging the club very well,” he said.
“How can I put it? It didn’t come as a huge surprise. Unfortunately that tee shot off 17 came at the wrong time for me and I’ve got to try and improve my swing to make sure I don’t do that in the future.
“I probably put that kind of tee shot down to why I haven’t won in the past. But at the same time I’ve done a lot of very good things today and I’ve been doing a lot of good things this year. I’m kind of happy and also philosophical moving forward, I suppose.”
One man who saw it close up was playing partner Richie Ramsay.
“I think he was just a bit unlucky at 17,” the Scot said. “To be fair, he sort of composed himself and made a good four with the second ball.
“It was good to see someone like that who’s also a lot of potential to be up there and playing well, and it kind of drives you to do a little bit better.”
Yesterday’s 70 was Ramsay’s best round of the tournament, and included five birdies, one of them on the last. But he’s still waiting to make a big leap forward.
“I wasn’t that far away today,” he said. “Just need to putt to get one round, and 66 would be nice tomorrow and vault up the leaderboard.
“It was great day, but summed up on the last hole. That was brilliant. It was good to be holing a putt on 18 when there’s lots of crowds and stuff, so great finish, and hopefully carry that into tomorrow.”