Saving the best to last is the cliched ideal, so when success comes first it can be a miserable alternative, and Scott Drummond is still battling to make sure it doesn’t happen to him.
Drummond stunned the European Tour with his PGA title win at Wentworth in 2004, beating Angel Cabrera with a record 20-under total, and his first winners’ cheque on the big circuit amounted to a life-changing £546,000.
Seven years on and without a win since, Drummond is off the tour and has yet to win a penny from his five starts in 2011.
A lifetime’s exemption as a result of his win will allow him to play here at the BMW PGA Championship this week, but he is desperate to recover the good vibes and get his career moving forward.
“Sir Steve Redgrave said, if you’ve reached a pinnacle in your sport there’s no reason why you can’t do it again which he proved in keeping winning Olympic gold medals,” said the 37-year-old.
“I think it’s true. It’s certainly what I still feel. You know you’ve done it, and I know if I get myself into a new position I feel I’m capable of staying there.”
Drummond had to use the exemption to stay on tour, and when it ran out he managed to hang in via the tour school but last year he lost his rights.
“It is frustrating what has happened since, but there’s no use in dwelling on it, you’ve got to think of the future.”
He said, “I’ve got a lot of memories, and even although there are a lot of changes, it’s still the same bit of land with the same views. I’ve still got a lot of the same feelings, and I feel comfortable out there and despite the changes, still feel I know the golf course very well.”