Zane Scotland feels he is on his way to returning to the form which once saw him hailed as Britain's answer to Tiger Woods after producing a four-under par 68 in the opening round of the Volvo China Open.
The 25-year-old made the headlines 11 years ago when, at the age of 14, he won a competition to find Britain's next top golfer.
Within two years he became the youngest Englishman to qualify for The Open and went on to become Europe's number one amateur.
However, shortly before he planned to turn professional in 2003, a car accident left Scotland with career-threatening neck injuries and looked to have halted his development.
In 2005 he was plying his trade on the EuroPro Tour - the third tier of the sport - but remained determined to get his career back on track.
And although his injuries will never completely heal as long as he plays golf, Scotland earned a full European Tour card for this season from just nine tournaments last year.
And with age still on his side, Scotland believes he can press on and join the likes of Justin Rose and Paul Casey as one Britain's top golfers.
"During my amateur days I played just behind Justin and Paul as they were a bit older than me and I have played a lot of amateur golf with Nick Dougherty,'' he said.
"There have been a lot of these British guys who have pressed on recently.
"On the one hand I look at the likes of Oliver Fisher (runner-up in the Andalucia Open recently) and I have six or seven years on him, and I think I am getting on a bit!
"However, on the other hand most players don't peak until the mid-30s and hopefully I have quite a few years before I produce my best golf.''
Scotland was one of seven players trailing leader Michael Lorenzo-Vera by a shot after the Frenchman carded a five-under-par 67.
After bogeying the first, the 23-year-old picked up six birdies to finish ahead of Scotland, fellow Englishmen Richard Finch and Simon Griffiths, Ireland's Damien McGrane, Holland's Joost Luiten, American Jason Knutzon and China's Li Chao.
The last two regular events on the circuit have been won by French players - Thomas Levet winning the Andalucia Open and Gregory Bourdy capturing the Portuguese Open - and Lorenzo-Vera admits he has taken inspiration from the form of two of his compatriots.
"That is a lot of motivation of course, but we will see,'' said Lorenzo-Vera.
"They have been on the Tour much longer than me but if I continue to play well then you never know.
"However, I am not talking about winning at the moment. We will see on Sunday night.''
Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell and defending champion Markus Brier were left with work to do in the second round to get into contention.
Brier carded a one-under-par 71 while McDowell, who won the Ballentines Championship in South Korea last month, carded a 73.
David Howell finished even par after a disastrous triple-bogey eight on his final hole.
Howell was five under with four holes to play but dropped shots at the sixth and eighth and then found water twice on the ninth.
"I don't know what to say,'' conceded Howell. "Five under would have been a miracle, three under would have been delightful but level par was a disaster.''
