If you analysed golf form over an extended period, Alexandra Forsterling would have been – at the very least – among your selections to win this week’s Australian Women’s Classic.

However, if your memory only stretched back 18 months, she wouldn’t have been in your calculations.

The reason, for those at Magenta Shores this week and Wollongong last, is anything but obvious as the athletic German returns to the form that took her to the brink of the world’s top 50 in mid-2024.

After a stellar amateur career across Europe and then representing the Arizona State Sun Devils in American collegiate golf, she had two wins in 2023 as a rookie on the Ladies European Tour.

Two more victories followed in 2024, and with top 60 finishes in the British and US Opens, the world appeared to be her oyster.

Until a dreaded back injury made her once rhythmic motion a torture test every time she stood over the ball.

“Especially in the finished position, or going through impact, I just had a really sharp pain, and then because you’re having this pain, you kind of want to avoid it,” Forsterling said after her second-round 68 at Magenta Shores left her well positioned to attack the weekend.

“And then my swing started to change, which obviously is no good.

“So I really worked on both things, like my swing and my body during the winter, and it has started to pay off.

“I feel a lot more comfortable, especially with the (long) irons. That’s also what I told my caddy today on the round. I just feel, overall, a lot more confident with my long game again.

“It’s a nice feeling.”

Forsterling was one of only three players in last week’s Ford Women’s New South Wales Open to finish under par in the savage opening-round conditions.

It was a testament to the 26-year-old that she hung tough enough to eventually finish in a share of fifth as those on the opposite side of the draw flourished.

And while she hasn’t yet had much luck on the greens at Magenta, you cannot help but think something special is right around the corner again after rounds of 72-68 left her at four under.

Australian Women’s Classic – Leaderboard

“I’m overall just really happy. If the putts are dropping the next couple of days like they did today for a while, then probably yes (I’m still in contention).

“I feel like I’m starting to play a lot better than what the scores say.

“I mean, I’m super happy about last week. Starting the season with T5 is just really good. And overall, I mean, it couldn’t be any better, honestly.

“Of course, there’s always a couple shots that you could save, but in the end, I’m honestly really happy of how I came out of the winter.

“It’s so much ”

A key part of Forsterling’s arsenal is her course management, particularly evident today when she was routinely quite a distance behind her young playing partners, but almost always centre cut of the nuanced Magenta fairways.

“I’m usually trying to find a number to (have the best approach),” Forsterling said.

“The first couple of days here (this week) I wrote down, like, this and that carry I have to hit, and then from there, I mean, it’s just luck, honestly, on these fairways.

“I mean, it’s in really good condition, but it’s so hilly, so you never know if you end up in a hollow or on top of a hill, or even in the rough with a good shot that turns and rolls.

“So I’m just trying to stay patient and take advantage when it looks good, and the number is right.”

If you’re not already a fan, hitch your wagon now.

The Forsterling express is about to return to full speed.