Twelve months ago Adam Blyth started the final day of the Oates Vic Open with a three-shot lead.
But the Queenslander capitulated on the final day after carding a six-over par 78 and eventually finished tied for 19th.
Fast forward a year and Blyth is back at 13th Beach and near the top of the leaderboard courtesy of a bogey-free third-round seven-under par 65.
He begins today’s final round in the group of players tied for 15th at 11-under, six shots behind the leader Matthew Giles.
Fiancé Nicole is again on his bag and the 35-year-old is happy to be back at Barwon Heads and in contention.
“I started well with a nice putt on the first and that’s always a good feeling,” Blyth said.
“I just played really well (yesterday) and struck it so well. Even the putts I missed, I hit it in the right spots but they just didn’t drop.
“It was a great round and I’m really happy to have had it.”
Blyth didn’t let the disappointment of last year’s fadeout affect his game for the rest of 2016. In fact, he went onto win two tournaments on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia – the South Pacific Open Championship and NSW Open – and was named the Tour’s Player of the Year.
Blyth said he tried to use his Oates Vic Open experience as a positive experience.
“I think a lot of people think of last year as a bad thing,” he said. “I didn’t. I thought of it as a good thing, I learned a lesson from it.
“Although it as hard on the day it was great moving forward.
“It was a lesson to learn and, in the spotlight, it was hard. But they’re the ones you learn from.
“You can either take it two ways; it can really get you down and you never want to be there again, or you want to be there again and keep getting there until it’s done and that’s the feeling I have.
“It’s nice to be there again on Sunday. Hopefully I’ll get out early again and shoot a good score.”