CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When Shaun Micheel wants to listen to music, he’s likely to pop in a CD by his favorite band, KISS.

His favorite video? Now, that’s another story. Micheel never travels without the tape of the final round of the 2003 PGA Championship that he won with a magnificent 7-iron from 175 yards to within inches on the 72nd hole.

Micheel watched it prior to the final round of the Nissan Open earlier this year and shot 4 under the next day. He might want to stick it into the VCR again on Saturday night -- Micheel starts the final round of the Wachovia Championship three strokes off the lead held by Jim Furyk.

“I remember enough,” he said, smiling. “I could probably go through and tell you every shot, what I hit, where it was, everything. I have a pretty good memory and that was something that I’ll never forget.”

Since that career-defining victory, though, Micheel hasn’t made that many memories -- at least on the golf course. He’s only had three top-10s since that two-stroke win over Chad Campbell at Oak Hill, and the constant tinkering with his swing has taken its toll.

“When you're not playing well and you're missing cuts, that takes away some of the confidence that is probably one of the most important aspects of what we do out here,” Micheel explained. “If you don't trust or know where the ball is going out there, it's kind of hard to play the game, especially on a golf course as challenging as this is off the tee.”

At Quail Hollow this week, though, Micheel has opened with three sub-par rounds for the first time since he tied for 26th at the Ford Championship at Doral -- and only the second time all year. His round of 68 Saturday included a pair of eagles, too.

“I'm excited because I have that feeling again that I'm kind of on the right track,” Micheel said. “I felt it out there today. There were a couple opportunities out there where it could have slipped away from me, and I was able to kind of handle that, make a couple of key up and downs, and sometimes the up and downs are what keep you going.

“If I can go and continue to drive the ball the way that I've been driving it tomorrow (and) make a few putts, I don't see any reason why I can't finish on top.”

Micheel said the last time he felt as good about his game was at the start of the 2005 season when he tied for 13th at the Sony Open in Hawaii. By March, though, the feeling was gone and “I was like a sinking ship,” Micheel said. “The harder I tried, the worse it got.”

Since that time, Micheel has worked with three different instructors while he tried to recapture the feel that enabled him to make the PGA Championship his first PGA TOUR victory. His posture was a little off, and he needed to “tidy up” his swing.

Problem was, Micheel may have fiddled a bit too much. He’d spend hours on the practice range, but he wasn’t focused and didn’t use his time effectively. He’d hit some balls, talk a little and hit some more. He’d try new shafts or irons in hopes of finding the magic wand.

“I keep kind of a journal or some notes in my computer, and (there was) one thing (that) stood out from last year or a couple years ago, and I had it in bold,” Micheel recalled. “It says, ‘Stay off the range.’ I haven't really listened to myself too well. I've been spending more time out there kind of maybe feeling guilty if I didn't go out there and practice.

“Now I'm getting to the point now where I'm able to go out and take two, three hours and really focus on all aspects of the game. Instead of standing out there for five or six hours, I've kind of keyed in on a couple things that seemed to be working well.”

Just as he worked to regain his swing, Micheel also found himself struggling to cope with a health issue at the end of the 2004 season. He had no energy, no drive and he was unusually irritable to boot.

Micheel thought he might be putting pressure on himself to live up to the expectations that had risen after his PGA Championship victory. Or maybe the father of a 1-year-old son was just getting used to parenthood.

“I was bringing my work home,” Micheel said. “I wasn’t angry, but I just wasn’t happy with myself.”

Micheel’s wife Stephanie talked her husband into seeing a doctor. Blood work revealed he had an extremely low testosterone level for a man in his mid-30s. He now treats the problem with a hormone replacement gel that he rubs into his shoulder every day.

Shaun Micheel last won at the 2003 PGA Championship. (Greenwood/ WireImage)

“It’s nice waking up with a smile on my face,” Micheel said. “I’m on a level playing field now.”

Indeed. At Quail Hollow this week, Micheel appears to have found the consistency that has been missing from his game. He ranks among the top 25 in six statistical categories -- including a tie for ninth in Greens in Regulation -- and stands 28th in Driving Distance.

He refuses to get ahead of himself, though. Micheel knows there will be a lot of pressure on Sunday, and he is well aware that he hasn’t been in the hunt much over the last two years. He marvels at how players like Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen handle the expectations week in and week out.

Micheel didn’t have them when he won the PGA Championship, and he doesn’t have them Sunday, either. He just wants to see how far he’s come. Regardless of what happens, though, he feels he’s on the right track.

“It is a lot of fun to be in contention,” Micheel said. “It's fun to challenge yourself and be able to rise and put away those self doubts and those demons that we all have, and I've just (tried) to persevere through the bad times.

“Everybody has got ups and downs. It's all relative. My downs compared to Tiger's downs are completely different. It's just a balance, and I think I'm finally finding that.”