Marcus Kinhult credited the support of his family after an opening 66 put him firmly in contention at the 2026 Qatar Masters.
After a quiet start at Doha Golf Club - and to his season in general - Kinhult burst into life with four straight birdies around the turn.
That coincided with his mother's arrival on the course after an overnight flight and Kinhult said: "I had my family, they came out on number nine which was when I started to hole some putts, which was nice.
"My mom flew in yesterday - well, she arrived, I think, 2:00 AM this morning, so she wasn't too happy about the early tee time, but she made it for the final 10 holes, which was nice.
"I had my son and my fiancee out there as well, which was nice. (My) golf has been pretty bad so far this season and today was definitely a step in the right direction, yeah."
The Swede, who has made only one cut so far this season, opened with eight pars but was six under par for those last ten holes.
He cancelled out a dropped shot at the 14th with a birdie at the next and then finishing with a chip-in eagle from over the back of the 18th green.
"Yes, that was a nice chip in," he said. "It was a tricky lie in the rough but, yeah, it came out perfect and went in.
"It was a good day. Played pretty solid from the first hole, couldn't make any putts on the front nine then got it going around the turn, which was nice."
Fellow Scandinavian Jacob Skov Olesen was also on six under after a bogey-free Thursday.
The Dane said: “I just managed to play decent from the get-go, never really put myself in much trouble and put a few close, made a putt and got up and down a few times, so it's a pretty good, solid day.
“It definitely helps to be bogey-free. It's something I tend to struggle with a little bit sometimes, always sneak in a thing here or there.
“I think that's one of the takeaways from last season was just trying to minimise that, and especially on the good days - it sucks to make eight birdies but four bogeys.”
