Securing only a second European Tour pay cheque in eight months was the major incentive for Shropshire golfer Scott Drummond today.

Drummond shot to prominence by winning the prestigious PGA Championship in 2004 and, with it, £420,000.

But tough times have followed and the Shrewsbury-born player has missed 16 out of 17 cuts this year – and 34 in his last 37 events dating back to April 2007.

There were, however, real signs of encouragement at the SAS Masters in Stockholm yesterday when the former Shropshire & Herefordshire amateur fired a one-under-par 69 to lie just three shots off the overnight lead.

That set up a pivital second round today for a player who has earned under £10,000 prizemoney this year and gone down to 274th on the order of merit and 1,034 on the world rankings.

“At times it has been tortuous,” said the 34-year-old. “But you either give up or dig in and I’ve been working hard continuously.

“I’ve never felt my game is a million miles away, but last month I decided to get help from Graeme McDowell’s coach Clive Tucker – and hopefully this is the start of getting back on track.”

Drummond’s performance was part of an excellent day for Shropshire golfers in Sweden.

Peter Baker, formerly of Lilleshall Hall, was one shot off the overnight lead after a 67.

He briefly moved to the top of the leaderboard with two early birdies today, but three bogeys around the turn saw him slip back.

Eccleshall’s Simon Wakefield fired a one-over-par 71 yesterday.