LEMONT, Ill. -- Twenty nine on the front.

Six inches shy of tying the course record when he finished the 18th.

And to think Stewart Cink was thinking about heading home after the first hole.

A shaky start turned into a second-round 64 -- the first of two on Friday -- and put Cink in contention at the Cialis Western Open at Cog Hill. Even a bogey at the 18th didn’t dampen things as he cruised into the weekend at 7-under-par 135 -- three shots behind midway leader Daniel Chopra.

“Yesterday I didn't play very well at all,’’ Cink said of his 71. “I didn't feel like I was myself out there. I think myself showed back up today, and I made a lot of good shots and I was proud of myself.”

He wasn’t so sure after the first hole, though. An average tee shot set up a “pretty poor’’ second shot with a pitching wedge. Which led, he said, to a “mediocre a bump-and-run shot from the fringe.’’

He snuck in a 5-footer for par and … “suddenly I’m looking at the course coming up and thinking if I keep doing this, I might as well pack my clubs and go home,” Cink said.

The next shot was all he needed. He had a good yardage -- 180 to the pin on the par-3 -- and he hit a perfect, smooth-feeling, flag-seeking 7-iron to 5 feet for birdie.

“Funny how one little shot turns it all around,’’ he said. “. .. After that, I was loaded with confidence.’’

And birdies. Three more in a row, including a 50-footer up and over a hump on the fourth hole. “I felt like everything was cooking,’’ Cink said.

He got up and down from the bunker at the sixth for par, and the only shot he missed? A 10-footer for birdie at the eighth hole.

“I probably should learn something from that,’’ he said. “I shouldn’t ride the roller coaster quite as much. It just felt so easy and it’s not an easy course. I wish it could always feel like that.’’

Cink has had a solid season with four top-10s, including a tie for fifth place at last week’s Buick Championship and 10th at the Masters. But he hasn’t won since the 2004 World Golf Championships-NEC Invitational. And somewhat surprisingly, this is only his second Cialis Western Open. He missed the cut in 1997 and hasn’t been back -- not because he doesn’t like the golf course, but because it’s usually finishing on the 4th of July weekend, a family time for the Cinks.

“Unfortunately this tournament has always been the victim of that,’’ he said. “But this year with the 4th being on Tuesday, I felt like I could make it up here after the 4th and get here in time to play and prepare. ‘’

And now? Well, he’s looking at another chance to win. Not, like so many others, at the Ryder Cup standings.

“It’s in the back of my mind, but way in the back of my mind,’’ he said. “I’m a small picture guy. .. I’ll do everything to play each shot to the best of my ability Thursday through Sunday.’’

He wasn’t disappointed in the least about coming home in 35 Friday because he still birdied three holes.

“I think it’s a tendency of a golfer who racks up the birdies that fast, it’s real easy to get protective and play defensive,’’ he said. “I’ve done that in the past and I told myself not to do that. And, you can’t keep that kind of a run going otherwise there would be 57s and 58s out here all the time.’’

Ironically, he was playing with former champ Jeff Sluman, who shares the course-record of 63 with a – pardon the pun -- slew of players. And with the People’s Choice, Phil Mickelson, who struggled to a 74.

So, someone asked, did you feel a little for Mickelson?

“Not really because he's had plenty of good rounds,’’ Cink said, drawing a laugh. “No, that was not the Phil Mickelson that you'll probably see tomorrow. Phil just struggled from the very beginning, made some bogeys early, and it happens.’’

Just as quickly as great shots and great runs. Just ask Cink.