Nothing on Todd Hamilton's resume since his 2004 British Open victory indicates his name would appear on a Masters Tournament leaderboard.

Todd Hamilton waves after a birdie on No. 9 in the second round. The 2004 British Open champ is in his last year of Masters eligibility. His best finish -- tied for 36th -- came in 2008. (Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff)

When a player's world ranking is No. 373, he has made the cut in only 38 of his past 100 events, and Hamilton's last top 10 finish was at the 2006 John Deere Classic, that's not a precursor to contending at any major tournament.

Maybe the four-day break that the 43-year-old Texan took from golf last week -- a rest Hamilton says he took only because he was tired of playing in windy conditions -- rejuvenated him.

Whatever the reason, Hamilton managed to steady his game through gusty winds Friday at Augusta National Golf Club, firing 70 in the early morning to put him at 6-under-par 138 and in contention heading into the weekend.

"I think the time off that I had last week at home was really beneficial to me," said Hamilton, who has missed seven of nine cuts this year. "I had been beating my head up against the wall, seems like all year. Felt like I was playing pretty well and just getting nothing out of it."

With this being the last year of his Masters eligibility, it's as good a time as any for Hamilton to regain that feeling of being in contention.

After an opening 68, he followed up under much tougher scoring conditions to post four birdies and four bogeys, plus a critical eagle at the par-5 15th.

"I don't think I had any expectations," Hamilton said. "I was just happy to have a chance knowing this could be my last (Masters), and I wanted to play like it wasn't going to be my last one."

In five appearances, Hamilton missed two cuts, never finished higher than 36th and shot over par in nine consecutive Masters rounds before this week. He has been able to reverse his fortune so far, though, by taking advantage of solid driving and being better than usual around the greens.

On Friday, he answered whenever he started to lose ground. He recovered from bogeys at the second and sixth holes with three consecutive birdies at Nos. 8-10. After a bogey at the par-4 11th, he made a tough par putt on No. 14 before igniting his round with an eagle on the next hole.

From 215 yards away on the left side of the fairway, Hamilton hooked a shot around some pine trees to within 30 feet, then dropped the putt to get to 6-under. Though he dropped a shot at No. 16, he responded with a birdie from 10 feet on the last hole.

"That eagle putt on 15 kind of got the juices going," Hamilton said.

He attributed his solid score to Augusta greens that he said were more receptive than usual to long-iron approaches, despite the wind.

If he can keep this up on the weekend, Hamilton might be able to kick-start an up-and-down career that has waited a long time to get back on the upswing.

Asked whether he saw any sign of being able to show up on a Masters leaderboard, Hamilton replied: "Probably nothing like this, no. Not counting this event, I made two out of nine cuts. But it wasn't to the point where I can lose all hope."