Without hesitation, Adam Scott declared the pain and shame of recent Open near-misses was the psychological spur heading into the weekend.
Scott set himself up for another shot at glory with a faultless five-under 67 in the second round to be seven-under and right in the mix.
"You know, I think I'm playing with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder,'' he said.
"I feel like I've been really close to lifting this trophy and I'm very motivated to do it this weekend now that I'm in this position. And I'd be very disappointed if I never did in my career when I got so close.''
A chance to erase the bitter memories of four bogeys on the last four holes to surrender the 2012 title to Ernie Els and then hitting the lead on the back nine on Sunday the following year to eventually finish third behind Phil Mickelson is driving the gifted Queenslander.
"I definitely let that one (2012) slip and I would love to be sitting here having won the Open, but I'm going to have to work hard for it. I've had a couple of good looks at it since then,'' Scott said.
"The last few years at the Open has been some of my favourite golf. Getting into contention at this championship and having a chance to lift the Claret Jug is what it's all about. This is a great position. I'm excited for my weekend.
"Any time you can go bogey-free at a major, it's going to be a good round and in these conditions it was really good. I kind of chipped my way around the golf course and never really seemed to get too far out of position, so I didn't have to scramble too hard. I made a few good putts because I left a couple out there yesterday, so it all kind of turned around and very happy putting together 67.''
Scott and Victorian Geoff Ogilvy were among the movers following a 3 hours 14 minutes rain delay to their morning tee times as ground staff worked frantically to mop up after more than 20 mms of rain drenched the Old Course in a sudden downpour.
Ogilvy didn't have far to walk "home'' when play was halted after only the first two groups had hit off in the second round as he's staying at the hotel overlooking the 17th green.
"Normally we would have a house or something and it would be probably not doable (to leave), but I had breakfast and wandered back across and sat in the room for a couple of hours and walked back. It was nice,'' Ogilvy said after a 68 left him at five-under heading into the third round.
"I was very excited when they suspended play, I must say, because that probably meant straight away that we weren't going to hit many shots in the rain.
"17 was incredible because it has a lot of ripples in it (fairway) and they were all full. I'd never seen standing water like that here. I don't come here that often, but I didn't think it could do that, this place.''
Ogilvy reached the turn in one-under and he finished strongly with birdies at the 15th, the brutal 17th and the near-drivable 18th.
"Yeah, it's nice to finish that way. 17 is stealing a birdie, really. You're just trying to make four there if you can,'' he said.
"I was just trying to run it (6-iron approach shot) up to the front of the green and, hopefully, get up-and-down for par. Obviously, got a nice bounce and got right up on the top (of the green), so bonus.
"Yesterday it felt like we got the wrong end of the draw, but overall it feels like, maybe, we're going to end up with the better end of the draw because we didn't have to play in the rain this morning, which was a big result for us.
"Leaving here yesterday it felt like I'd let a bit of an opportunity go away (with five dropped shots on the back nine) because it felt like this morning was going to be really hard. But we got let off because we didn't have to play in the rain.''
Bruce Matthews is a Herald Sun sports writer