The final week of May is proving to be rather profitable for Chris Doak.

Last Sunday he earned the biggest cheque of his professional career in the BMW PGA Championship and followed that up the next day by qualifying for the US Open.

Yesterday, in Sweden, the 36-year-old Scot kept himself in contention for the first prize of more than £200,000 on offer in the Nordea Masters as he moved into a share of fourth place at the halfway stage in Malmo.

Doak, who pocketed more than £61,000 at Wentworth, birdied two of his last four holes in a three-under 69 for a five-under 139 which left him just a stroke behind the leading trio of Victor Dubuisson, Alvaro Quiros and Eddie Pepperell.

Doak's aggregate was matched by compatriot Stephen Gallacher, who shot a level-par 72, and they were joined by Wales' Bradley Dredge, Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and home favourites Henrik Stenson and Jens Dantorp.

Gallacher had briefly held the lead when he birdied two of his first three holes, but the Ryder Cup hopeful dropped back with a bag of four bogeys. A birdie on the last, though, salvaged a level-par round and kept him clinging to the coat tails of the leaders. "The wind was really blowing and it was tough, so I'm pretty happy with level-par," said Gallacher. "It was playing like a links course and I had to dig deep."

Scott Jamieson sits on the 141 mark, three under, while Craig Lee is the next best Scot on 142. Paul Lawrie and Marc Warren, the winner of this event in 2006, both missed the cut on 148 and 152 respectively.

It was Quiros who carded the best round of the second day. The Spaniard was five under for the day following eagles on the first and 11th holes, along with birdies on the 15th and 18th and a bogey on the fourth as he went round in 67. That bogey cost him the outright lead, but Quiros was satisfied with his score in light of what he felt to be issues with his putting. "I've been hitting the ball very well from tee to green, but even with the scores I've had I have not putted great," he said.

"I had one putt from eight metres for eagle on 11, but apart from that I've had a lot of putts from around five or six metres and not holed any. So even though I'm happy I could have putted better. The distance control is hard in this wind, though. At least it was warmer today than yesterday."

France's Dubuisson was an early finisher and enjoyed a share of the clubhouse lead with birdies on the first, second, 13th and 14th holes, with a bogey on the 17th the only blot on his card.

The 24-year-old Frenchman, who won last year's Turkish Airlines Open, said: "It's a great score. I played good today. It was more difficult than yesterday because the wind was in a different direction and it made some of the par-5s difficult to make birdie on. My short game was good and that was important."

Pepperell, who held the overnight lead alongside Dantorp, birdied the last to join the leading group again after a level-par 72 which included two further birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey.

Spain's Rafa Cabrera-Bello fell slightly off the pace as he cancelled out three birdies with bogeys on the 18th, second and sixth holes after starting on the back nine. It saw him finish on level par for the day and four under in total, alongside Sweden's Peter Hanson and Robert Karlsson and Italian Edoardo Molinari.