Thomas Rosenmueller hopes he provided the perfect birthday present for his mother after surging into contention on home soil at the 2026 BMW International Open.
The 29-year-old carded the lowest round of the day at Golfclub München Eichenried with a sparkling 65 which included an eagle, seven birdies and two dropped shots.
Rosenmueller, who made the weekend on the cut-line, saw his brilliant Moving Day score briefly move him into a share of the lead, with overnight leader Hennie du Plessis having not teed off yet.
He was in the sole lead until the final group reached the seventh hole before Bernd Wiesberger and Michael Hollick reached the clubhouse at 13 under, two ahead of the German and Du Plessis in a share of fourth.
"I was very good, the final ten holes especially," Rosenmueller said. "I'd say the final 12 or 13 holes were very good.
"I struck the ball really well coming in, made some longer putts. To shoot 65 in those conditions out there, shoot 65 in those conditions out there, quite breezy, tucked flags, putter's got to get warm, and I'm just happy it went warm late in the round.
"Funny enough, I changed a bit of the feeling for the swing because I wasn't happy with what I was striking with, I was seeing misses I generally don't have.
"I have my coach (Ken Williams) on my bag and saw a couple of misses on the left side and untypical for me, and I get very anxious when I hit it left because we've built a golf swing for 20 years that the ball never goes left, so changed the feeling a little bit.
"I don't really have any expectations, I obviously made the cut on the number late yesterday. It's my mum's birthday today so I was trying to give her a birthday present, but no expectations because I know how this golf course can play and how thick the rough is in some areas.
"I was trying to give myself as many opportunites as possible."
Rosenmueller, who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour and has swing coach Ken Williams on the bag this week, looks on course to beat his best result in Munich - tied for 26th in 2023.
"Playing on the Korn Ferry Tour is basically what golf's like. So many guys that make the cut on the number and then get in the top ten because you play free," he added.
"It's all about moving up and moving in the right direction and I thought I did a good job.
"Tomorrow is going to be really different because I'm not going to have an early tee-time, we'll see what they are doing with the tee-times because I heard there may be some weather coming in, but I think just keep the same feeling.
"I'm rolling the ball quite well, it's not very accessible out there so you have to make a lot of mid-range putts and just keep the putter warm."
