Marcus Helligkilde said he is trying to let the birdies come to him after an opening 66 sees him just three shots behind first round leader Lucas Glover and in the mix at the Barbasol Championship.
The Dane, who is searching for his first DP World Tour and PGA Tour victory this week, revealed that he is trying to stay patient when he needs to and go for it when he can - and it's a strategy that seems to be working.
Drawing on experience from last year's top ten in this event, Hellikgildle carded eight birdies and two bogeys during an opening 66 that sees him in a tie for eighth alongside fellow DP World Tour players Marcus Kinhult,and Johannes Veerman.
Starting at the tenth, Helligkilde began his round with a par and back-to-back birdies before his first dropped shot of the day at the 13th. Two more gains at 15 and 17 helped him to an front-nine 33, before he hit a hot streak on the front nine with four birdies in a row from the sixth. One more dropped shot at the par-five eighth saw him fall back to six under, but the 26 year old was very positive about his performance.
Referencing both his putting and his ability to know when to go for
"My putting was good," said Helligkilde, who has somewhat struggled following his runner-up finish at the Korea Championship earlier this year.
"It's not been good for quite a long time, so I'm happy that it was good today. It's been good the last few rounds I've played, so I'm very happy that that's getting along nicely.
"I learned that you need to shoot a low score and you don't need to like try and hunt it, just hit the centre of the green if you miss a fairway, and if you have a wedge in, then you can go for the flags. So kind of playing conservative golf still and then just let the birdies come to you."
Although searching for his maiden win this week, Hellikgilde has already enjoyed success seven times in his professional career, with three Challenge Tour wins, three Nordic Golf League wins and a further victory on the Danish Golf Tour.
In with a chance this week, he said that he doesn't feel like a victory is out of reach.
"I think I should just continue doing what I do because I'm pretty good at winning golf tournaments when I'm playing well. It's just about giving myself enough opportunities of being up there. I've played on the DP World Tour for (indiscernible) years now and I've only been in contention once going down the back nine. And I felt comfortable, I felt like I was able to win the golf tournament. I did not, but I feel like I just need to put myself in the position enough times and then suddenly there will come a few."
He currently lies three shots behind overnight leader Lucas Glover, whose eagle at the 12th was the highlight of a nine under 63.
Ryan Moore and Ryan Armour are one behind Glover, with DP World Tour player Daniel Brown part of a quartet on seven under.
