It was difficult to say what sounded more agonising. Thorbjorn Olesen recalling the various injuries and ailments that have hindered his season or the busking bagpiper behind the grandstand on the 18th green of the Old Course who managed to puff and blaw out more bum notes than you’d find in a forger’s wallet.

By all accounts, it has been a largely lamentable campaign for Olesen on the European Tour but there was no need for a piper’s lament in sunny St Andrews yesterday as the 25-year-old took charge of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. A sizzling seven-under 65 for a 17-under aggregate of 199 thrust Olesen into a three shot lead over Germany’s Florian Fritsch heading in to today’s closing round.

From tendon problems in his hand that required surgery to on-going niggles with a long-standing groin injury, it’s hardly surprising that a stop-start 2015 has been fairly hum-drum. In 19 tour events, Olesen has missed 13 cuts and the two-time tour champion, who languishes down in 124th on the money list, is in danger of losing his full playing rights. He won’t be if he keeps going like this, mind you.

With a first prize of over £500,000 on offer in the Auld Grey Toun, victory tonight would propel the Dane on the kind of upward trajectory usually reserved for vessels of space exploration. There are still 18 holes over the Old Course to negotiate but Olesen is in prime position.

His charge up the field didn’t get off to the best of starts when his approach to the first hole spun back off the green and plopped into the Swilcan Burn. That early bogey was swiftly forgotten about. Olesen reeled off four birdies before the turn and made further gains on four of his last five holes during a rousing finale. On the 18th green – with that ruddy piper providing a wailing soundtrack to proceedings – Olesen trundled a raking, left-to-right putt down the hill and into the hole for a three as he finished with a flourish.

Having strung together improving rounds of 68, 66 and 65 – his first two rounds were at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns respectively – Olesen is finding the consistency in scoring that he has struggled with this season. His last visit to Scotland, for July’s Scottish Open at Gullane, summed up his erratic form. After opening with a sparkling 63, he slumped to a 77 in the second round and missed the cut. “The lack of consistency has been very frustrating,” said Olesen. “There have been a few good rounds on the Thursday or the Friday of events but too many bad ones. The fact I missed three months of the season with the injury didn’t help matters and that’s been part of the problem but I’ve just been working hard and hoping that things would improve. It will be a battle in the final round but I’m definitely out there to win this.”

Fritsch, who is also in a perilous position on the money list in 130th spot, bolstered his bid to break into the card-retaining safety zone of the top 111 with a tidy eight-under 64 at Kingsbarns that included six birdies and an eagle as he hoisted himself into second place on his own on a 14-under tally. Two shots behind him is Joakim Lagergren, another player embroiled in a scramble for tour survival. The 25-year-old Swede carved out a superbly assembled 10-under 62 at Kingsbarns during a round that sparked into life over the closing nine holes. Having started on the 10th, Lagergren was making steady progress at two-under through the turn but he upped the ante on his inward half and blasted six birdies and an eagle as he roared home in just 28 blows.

Lagergren was joined on the 12-under 204 mark by Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who won the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Matchplay title in Aberdeen in July and hoisted himself into contention on the east coast of Scotland again with a 66 at the Old Course.

Ernie Els, the two-time Open champion, also took route 66 in St Andrews and moved into the top-10 with an 11-under 205. A couple of days ago, during his first round at Carnoustie, Els managed to jab a six-inch putt on the 17th woefully past the hole. In these unforgiving times, footage of his mishap quickly appeared on the internet under the withering banner ‘is this the worst putt ever?’ The particular putter that caused such groaning and gasping has since been consigned to the car boot and Els has reverted to an old favourite. “It was an ugly experience but I didn’t feel very comfortable over the short putts with that putter and I totally yipped that one on 17,” he said. “You hear about these things and I think I showed the public the perfect yip stroke,” he added with a smile.

On the home front, David Drysdale manoeuvred his way to the fringes of the top 10 with a purposeful six-under 66 at Kingsbarns for a 10-under 206. With his tour card on the line, Drysdale is well on course for the big result he needs to safeguard his place at the top table. “I’m playing well enough to do some damage on the leaderboard, so that’ll be the focus rather than anything else,” said the upbeat Scot..