LYTHAM, England -- Sometimes clarity comes from taking a step backward. Or, in the case of Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom, taking a step outside the ropes.
The 25-year-old prepared for the LPGA's mini-links swing with a week at the men's Scottish Open four weeks ago, watching as others suffered the slings and arrows of golf's outrageous fortune.
It took a little time for the experience to pay off, but fortitude was one of the lessons learned and she has reaped the benefit through 36 holes at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, posting rounds of 69 and 70 to be tied for eighth at 5-under 139 heading into the weekend of Ricoh Women's British Open.
"I was kind of mixing work with pleasure," she said after signing a second-round card that included three birdies. "On the one hand, I was being inspired, and at the same time, I was there to see my coach."
To begin with, the two activities went hand-in-hand as her coach/mentor, the veteran European Tour star Robert Karlsson, needed just 65 blows in the first round, but the real value of the exercise came from a change in perspective.
"It gave me so much insight," she said. "Because when you're inside the ropes, there appears to be so little time to think.
"Walking the fairways I was asking myself what the players were thinking about, what shot they were contemplating, how did they react to good shots, how did they respond to birdies. How I would have fared in the same circumstances.
"It was suddenly so easy to see how a round can get away from a player. It's so difficult to cope when you're playing well yet nothing is happening on the scorecard."
When Sagstrom found herself 2 over through five holes of the first round, it was time to turn the experience into action.
"I said to myself, 'If I start wanting this too much or try too hard it's not going to happen.' I was thinking, 'Let it go, let it go, just let it happen.'"
The result?
"I went birdie, par, birdie, birdie, I'm like 1 under, and suddenly I'm thinking: 'Oh yeah, this works.'
"Golf can change that quickly, but don't change things. You have to remember it's a long game. The golf course was winning, but keep doing your thing, keep believing."
The relationship with Karlsson, winner of 12 European Tour titles, started three years ago and is less about teaching than the sharing of experiences.
"It's a connection between players," explained Sagstrom. "He knows what I'm feeling. I can say stuff and even I'm thinking, 'This sounds completely stupid,' but he says, 'I understand, I've been there.' He tells me what he's done, how he's felt, what he's done right and what he's done wrong."
They talk pretty much every Tuesday of the season and will often message one another through a tournament, but ironically she is thinking on her own two feet this week because Karlsson is hosting a Challenge Tour event back home, giving more to the next generation of Swedish golfers.
Sagstrom knows he's there for her if she needs him, however, as she has done during a run of four missed cuts which preceded her arrival in England.
"It can be a lonely world out here on tour beyond the golf course," she said. "Every day doesn't always feel like a dream, but deep down I know I'm living it."
This weekend, she is back inside the ropes but playing for those watching from the sidelines, specifically her mom, dad and family friends.
"I thought ahead of this week that I'd play for something bigger than myself. I want to be the role model I'd like to be. It's working out pretty well so far."