Jarrod Lyle delighted to make Masters cut

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But after 36 holes at Royal Melbourne the 32-year-old has done enough to ensure he will tee it up again over the weekend and, for him, given what he has been through, it almost equates to a victory.

"Yes, I felt like I had a two shot lead on that last hole and all I wanted to do was just dribble it up so I did not screw it up and miss the cut," Lyle said.

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"It is just a great feeling, I guess, to say that I am going to be back here tomorrow morning playing golf."

He may be 10 strokes adrift of the lead held by his fellow Victorian Nathan Holman and world number two Adam Scott at halfway after following up his opening-round one-over 72 with a 71 but Lyle couldn't care less after surpassing his own pre-tournament expectations.

"I have come here and achieved probably the biggest goal I set myself all week, and that was to play four rounds of golf," Lyle said of his comeback from a second bout of leukaemia.

"And I could not be happier right now than what I am.

"It took a fair effort to make the cut again but I have done it so I cannot really say anything else.

"It was something that, you know, I did not know whether I would make the cut.

"I did not know how my golf game would stand playing with, you know, these guys again."

Thursday's round gave Lyle enough confidence that if he could hold things together he had every chance of achieving his goal.

"I guess after yesterday, fighting back like I did those last few holes and then waking up this morning, the goal was to make the cut and not make any mistakes," added Lyle, who rallied from three-straight bogeys to the turn on Thursday and four in six holes with birdies at 14 and 15.

"I made two bogeys, I think but one of them was a three-putt from 35 feet, which, if you are match fit you probably would not do.

"But I did it and put myself behind the eight ball a little bit and then fought back, and I made a couple of birdies in the last sort of seven holes and that was what helped again today."

As for how he is feeling physically, Lyle insisted his body will not stop him completing 72 holes even if he feels exhausted come Sunday.

"Last night I knew I had played 18 holes, the legs were a bit heavy," he said.

"They were a little bit heavy again today, but if I have to crawl those last 18 holes, mate, I am crawling them, nothing is going to stop me from finishing."

'Sick of being a sook' after being reduced to tears over his comeback on the opening tee on Thursday, Lyle had to tell himself to 'man up' as he negotiated his final hole on Friday.

And while he has been buoyed by his return to competitive golf he knows he still has a long way to go before he is ready to return to the game full-time, both from a health and form perspective.

After finishing his round, in front of packed galleries again, all Lyle was worried about was heading home to spend some time with his wife and young daughter, Lusi, content that he has confirmed 'the fire is definitely burning' within for when he does get back to 100 per cent.

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