As a struggling professional on the European Tour, Graeme Storm made ends meet by washing trays in a cake factory in his native Hartlepool, supplementing his income by about £150 a week. “Like any normal person, I went to work,” Storm said. “I went to work to try to pay for Christmas presents and was doing an everyday job, eight hours a day.”

Six years on, the Englishman, 30, had other thoughts on his mind as the final round of the WGC-CA Championship got under way yesterday over the Blue Monster Course at Doral. What he was contemplating was a potential £720,000 pay day and a last-gasp chance of qualifying for the Masters.

To achieve both feats, Storm needed to secure victory in only his second start in a World Golf Championships event. Yet after completing a brilliant storm-delayed third round of 63 — the week’s best score and one matched only by Vijay Singh — he was right to feel confident, despite the task clearly going to be a tough one.

It meant he started the fourth round — one that was soon suspended for fear of lightning — in a tie for second place, four shots behind Geoff Ogilvy, the leader from Australia, and one shot ahead of Tiger Woods, whose seven-tournament winning streak looked to be shuddering to a halt.

This is rarefied air for Storm, a relatively late developer and a player ranked No 136 in the world at the start of the week. As a member of a winning Walker Cup team in 1999 that included Luke Donald and Paul Casey, he has spent many of the intervening years watching his fellow Englishmen take the limelight. Now, though, he is learning to turn the spotlight towards himself.

Things are finally falling into place for a player who turned 30 less than a fortnight ago and who deservedly claimed his maiden victory, and a hefty first prize of just under £450,000, at the French Open in 2007.

“That’s the best round of my life,” Storm said of his nine-under-par 63. “I was three over par after nine holes on the first day, but I came back in four under, got my score into the red and carried on from there.”

Any round that includes eight birdies, an eagle and only one bogey can only be thought of as spectacular. Most impressive was an inward nine of 29 that started with a 30-foot putt for an eagle at the 10th and ended with a 190-yard four-iron shot to within 13 feet that set up his final birdie at the fearsome 18th.

Storm has made waves once before in the States. Last year, he led the PGA Championship, the fourth major championship, after a first round of 65 at Southern Hills, Tulsa, before falling away in the intense heat. He finished tied 62nd after further rounds of 76, 74 and 78, but has used the experience to good effect.

“The change in fortunes have been amazing,” he said. “The PGA was my first real taste of doing well in America and to come back in 29 on a course like this is a massive confidence boost.

“I had a lot of ups and downs [in Tulsa] and was disappointed where I finished. I felt as if I should have done a lot better, although, experience-wise, I learnt a lot from it. My career’s been a bit like that. I seem to suffer major blows and then come back from it. Maybe I’m the type of player who needs to learn from his mistakes.”

Storm, soon to become a father for the first time, admits that he has also kept an eye on the careers of his former Walker Cup team-mates. “You do look at the guys like Casey, Donald and Simon Dyson,” he said. “Dyson went to Asia and got a few wins under his belt and got himself a lot more comfortable in the professional environment. I played OK and should have kept my card [in 2001] but didn’t.”

A successful finish here and Storm knew he would find himself flying up the rankings for the Ryder Cup team in September.

He played well for Nick Faldo, the Europe captain, at the Seve Trophy, in Ireland, last September, but will not allow himself to think too far ahead. “I haven’t even thought about the Ryder Cup,” he said. “If it happens, it happens. I have other major things going on in my life right now.”

When play was suspended for the first time yesterday, Ogilvy had moved to 17 under par. With play being carried over into today, it is going to take a mighty effort from Woods to come through to win. With 15 holes to play, he trailed Ogilvy — the former US Open champion — by six strokes, with Storm, Adam Scott and Retief Goosen four shots off the lead.