For a very brief moment, O'Hern had 59 on his radar scope

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Nick O'Hern had just 22 putts in the third round.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- He admitted it. Yes, the idea of possibly shooting a very low score did creep into his brain. Even a veteran like Nick O'Hern said he was thinking about a potential course record -- or even a 59 -- as he was reeling off one birdie after the next on Saturday at the Verizon Heritage.

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"I thought: How many birdies do I have to make to shoot 59?" O'Hern said. "I put that out of my head when I didn't make birdie on the next."

O'Hern began the third round at 1-under par, but bolted from the gate with birdies on the first two holes. He finished the front nine in 5-under 31 and was 7 under through No. 11, where he made his fourth straight birdie. He was only able to add one additional birdie and bogeyed the 18th for a 7-under 64. The result was his best round of the year on the PGA TOUR and moved him into contention at 8-under 205.

"Overall I played very nicely, got off to a nice start birdieing the first couple," said O'Hern, who threatened the course record of 61 set by David Frost in 1994. "I had a great run where I made four in a row -- 7-under through 11, I was feeling pretty good about things."

While he failed to add his name to the short list of 59 shooters, O'Hern has put himself into contention to win for the first time since joining the PGA TOUR in 2005.

"When it is so bunched, if you can put a few birdies together, all of a sudden you've gone from 50th to 20th and things like that," he said. "That's the great part about it. But in reality it's pretty hard to put a few birdies together."

O'Hern's season has been rather nondescript. He's missed the cut in three of seven events, including his most recent start at the Shell Houston Open. But he tied for eighth at the Transitions Championship and played well in the Tavistock Cup.

O'Hern in Round 3

He missed one fairway on Thursday, two on Friday ... and none on Saturday. As seen on his scorecard, his 93 percent driving accuracy percentage leads the field this week in the Verizon Heritage.

"My game has been right there," O'Hern said. "It's a matter of putting it together, as the old saying goes. I'm not playing poorly, but there's a fine line between average and really good."

O'Hern was really good on Saturday at Harbour Town after struggling to just make the cut. But that seems to have become a habit for the Australian.

"It's funny how the game turns," he said. "It's been a bit strange through my career whenever I've just made the cut, I always seem to shoot a Saturday score and get back into things."

O'Hern came close to winning twice in 2009. He tied for fourth at the Children's Miracle Network Classic and a tie for third at the Shell Houston Open. Both times he shot 66 in the third round to vault into contention. His 64 on Saturday at Harbour Town is reminiscent of the others.

The difference for the lanky left-hander is often his short game. When he's putting and chipping well, O'Hern is quite capable of contending.

"Whenever my short game is sharp, I find that's when I turn my poor rounds into decent rounds and my decent rounds into really good ones," he said. "That's probably what happened today."

O'Hern needed only 22 putts on Saturday. He chipped in three times. He didn't miss a fairway and hit 10 of the 18 smallish greens in regulation.

"You get in a different mindset," he said. "You get more aggressive because you can attack things and you can get it up and down. When your short game is not so good, it becomes a very hard game. Most of the guys hit the ball very similar; they're all good ball strikers. It's just who does best with the flat stick."

This is the sixth appearance for O'Hern at Hilton Head. His best showing was a ninth-place finish in 2005. With an earlier tee time on Saturday, O'Hern found the greens slightly more receptive and the wind a bit less hostile. He approached the round with a nothing-to-lose attitude and will be among the contenders on Sunday.

"And if you don't have a good day today, well, fine," O'Hern said. "There's no difference between 60th and 20th. It doesn't matter too much, except for the bank balance. We play golf tournaments and if you can get that bit of a roll now, you can give yourself a chance. That's nice to be in those last few groups on Sunday."

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.