BY THE time he reached the 17th tee - his eighth hole - at the Australian Masters yesterday, Steven Bowditch was thinking of calling it quits. With his left wrist aching from a suspected strained ligament, he was struggling to put the ball in play. What point going on?

Whether it was because his resolve is now greater or the healing hands of the physiotherapist, Bowditch did not merely persist. He made three birdies in his last six holes to finish at two-under and set himself for a good weekend - depending on the results of his post-round MRI.

"[The physio] was out there pretty much all day rubbing it down for me so I just had to hang on," Bowditch said. "I hit two fairways today so it was very scratchy, but it's not too bad. I got through."

There was a time when Bowditch did not seem capable of digging so deep. The days when he was gripped by what became a public battle with depression. That year on the US PGA Tour in 2006 was littered with withdrawals, disqualifications and missed cuts. It is now two years since Bowditch spoke about his struggles at the Australian Open at Royal Sydney in support of the depression initiative beyondblue. Coincidentally, it was the day after England batsman Marcus Trescothick had abandoned the Ashes Tour with similar black clouds over his head.

Now, Bowditch says his problems are confined to his game. "I feel like I've overcome it. It went from every day to every couple of days to once a week. It was just a gradual thing, that's what all the doctors said it would be."

A clear head does not necessarily lead to a perfect swing. "Some of my worst times I was playing my best golf, which is pretty weird," he says.

Conversely, despite feeling better, Bowditch made just two cuts and $US3859 in 16 starts on the Nationwide Tour this year. With entry categories reassessed every five weeks, that meant he struggled to get a start. Three times he was the first or second alternative, travelling to tournaments only to spend the week on the practice range.