Robert Karlsson had his eyes on a 59 after picking up nine shots in 15 holes of his second round at the fog-delayed Porsche European Open.
With almost seven hours lost on days one and two due to poor visibility in the early morning at Golf Resort Bad Griesbach, the Swede will return to complete his final three holes on Saturday knowing that he will hit the magic number should he pick up three more shots.
With preferred lies in place, the 11-time European Tour winner would not officially enter the record books, but he admitted the achievement was on his mind after getting to ten under through 13 holes before bogeying the fifth.
"Of course 59 crossed my mind," he said. "But I wasn't actually aware of it for a while - I knew I was making a lot of birdies and I didn't know how many under par I was - but then I went eagle-birdie on three and four and I was thinking 'I must be quite a few under now', obviously.
"It's always a tricky situation when you know you're not going to finish. But at the end of the day we're going to play 54 or 72 holes and that's the way it is. It was a bit of a mental error on five but I've knocked in plenty of number so I won't complain.
Hopefully a 59 will happen, whether it's tomorrow or another day hopefully I can do it - Robert Karlsson
"I'm just trying to put it in perspective, it's 72 holes and it's not even 36 of 72 that I have played now so it is what it is. It's fantastic and hopefully a 59 will happen, whether it's tomorrow or another day hopefully I can do it. It was a great day today and I had a lot of fun in the group."
Local favourite Martin Kaymer was also 11 under for the week with one hole left to complete as he finalised his preparations for next week's Ryder Cup.
With lengthy weather delays at last week's Italian Open, it has been a testing fortnight for the two-time Major Championship winner and he admitted that - from a personal perspective - a shortened tournament may not be the worst thing for him.
"It's a very bad feeling to have such long days, coming from Italy were we were playing from early morning to late at night and now it's the same again," he said. "It's not the perfect preparation for Ryder Cup. I hope that the tournament will be decided over 54 holes.
"From my score, I'm happy. I have had 12 birdies in 26 holes today. My plan is just to keep playing like that tomorrow."
