Ever since this wonderfully bamboozling pursuit was invented, the anguish-laden process of trying get a ball to disappear down a small hole has generated infuriated torrents of wailings, mutterings and cursings as golfers the world over lament the ones that got away.

What ifs, maybes and might-have-beens are par for the course in this fickle old game but Craig Howie ensured that he was not left dwelling on the putts that didn’t drop as he thrust himself into a tie at the top at the halfway stage of the Carrick Neill Scottish Open Strokeplay Championship at Western Gailes.

“In the first round, I didn’t hole anything and then I got on to the third green of round two and had a good chance and said to myself ‘right, I’m not letting these slip by as well’,” said Howie after barging up the field with a course record-equalling seven-under 64 which gave him a seven-under aggregate of 135 and a share of the lead with fellow Scot, Liam Johnston, and Australia’s David Micheluzzi.

Howie’s birdie putt of 12-feet on that third hole got him going while a nicely flighted 6-iron into the sixth set up an eagle opportunity which he gobbled up. Howie, the former Scottish Boys’ champion from Peebles, was seven-under for his round through 11 holes and on course to beat the course record set the previous day but a poor tee-shot on the 16th led to a bogey which stalled his charge.

It was only a minor mishap, though. Howie’s putting came to the fore again on the last as he trundled in a 30-footer for another birdie to finish with a flourish. “After holing that one on the third, my putting was great from then on,” added Howie, who won the Craigmillar Park Open on the domestic scene in April and is aiming for a spot on this season’s GB&I Walker Cup team. “It was one of those days that I felt I would give myself chances. I had felt myself tensing up a bit as the putts weren’t going in but once one goes in you start seeing them all go in.”

Howie, who was out in the pleasant early morning conditions before the wind got a bit more boisterous later on, was joined on that seven-under mark by playing partner Micheluzzi, who posted an eventful 68. Having lost a ball with a wayward drive off the sixth tee, the 20-year-old from Melbourne, who is still recovering from the effects of glandular fever, made an eagle with his second ball and holed a monstrous putt of some 45-feet to salvage his par five.

An avid follower of the golfing exploits of Rory McIlroy, Micheluzzi was delighted when informed that he had at least got one over on his golfing idol. A decade ago here at Western Gailes, McIlroy had rounds of 67 and 69 during the strokeplay qualifying rounds of the European Amateur Team Championship. Micheluzzi has returned cards of 67 and 68 this week. “I got him by one,” he added with a smile. “I love Rory and I wanted to be him ever since I got into golf.”

Johnston, the winner of the African Amateur Championship this season, signed for a spirited 66 as he also bolstered hopes of a first home victory in the Scottish Open since 2008. “I had just one bogey and in the wind I think I got as much out of that round as possible,” said a contented Johnston. Connor Syme, last year’s Australian Amateur champion, made it a trio of Scots in the top-four as he added a 70 to his opening 66 for a 136 to lurk just one stroke off the lead.