However, everything fell into place today at Castle Pines as he posted a three-under-par 69 worth eight points in the modified Stableford format.

Sheehan has 18 points, one more than Ian Leggatt and two better than Sergio Garcia.

Just half the field completed the round due to a violent afternoon thunderstorm that halted play for more than three hours.

Stewart Cink (12 holes) and Tom Pernice (10) were the best of those who did not finish at 15 points.

Phil Mickelson has just five points and will miss a cut for the first time this year as he heads into the defence of his PGA Championship title.

Sheehan has endured a mediocre season plagued by inconsistency and ranks 158th on the money list.

“I’ve been struggling this year, just haven’t been able to put four good rounds together,” he said.

“I’ve had a lot of tournaments where I’ve had two good rounds and two kind of iffy rounds.”

The unique scoring format deducts one point for a bogey but three for double-bogey or worse.

One reason for Sheehan’s success is that he has just three bogeys in 36 holes.

“So far I’ve kept myself out of some serious trouble and that’s the key out here, to avoid the double-bogey,” he said.

Sheehan may be a mystery to most spectators, but Leggatt is hardly a household name, either.

A victory at Tucson four years ago may have earned him life-changing money but it did not provide a launching pad to bigger and better things.

Carpal tunnel syndrome in his left wrist restricted him to a handful of appearances in 2004 and 2005.

“It’s been a long, hard road back,” he said. “The surgeries I had were never guaranteed to turn out fine, so the biggest problem I’ve had is the mental part of leaving the game when I was playing so well and really advancing with my career.”

Leggatt had the worst possible start Friday, dropping three points at his first hole, the par-four 10th. But that was his only blemish as he roared back with two eagles and three birdies.

Eagles are particularly valuable in the format as they are worth five points compared to two for birdie.

Another player looking for confidence is Davis Love III, who will not make the United States Ryder Cup team unless he does something special over the weekend or at next week’s PGA Championship. He birdied the final two holes to move to seven points.

Even if he does not automatically qualify, Love may make the team via the backdoor route as one of Tom Lehman’s captain’s picks.

“Today I showed how bad I wanted it,” Love said. ”I had a good round when I had to have one. A couple more good days here and a good week next week, then I’ll feel like playing.”