The phrase 'fore' could have been invented for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Hugh Grant hoiking a drive here, the Duke of Roxburghe skittering a 5-iron there, Kyle MacLachan squirting one goodness knows where. Whether it was at St Andrews, Carnoustie or Kingsbarns, the air was filled with panic-stricken shrieks as a series of hapless hackers conjured the kind of mind-mangling shots usually reserved for a Mexican tequila bar. The good golfing folk of Fife and Angus were probably forming orderly queues at the entry gates demanding their free admission back.

Amid the crash, bang, wallop of these amateur dramatics, there was plenty of professional polish to purr over. Oliver Wilson, the former Ryder Cup player who has slithered down to 792nd in the world rankings, tamed the beast of Carnoustie with a course-record equalling eight-under 64 to assume command.

Padraig Harrington was also putting in a commanding performance over these rigorous links until a brace of bogeys at the 17th and 18th saw him slide off the top. His six-under 66, however, equalled his best round on the European Tour this season and, as he strives to haul himself back up the global pecking order, this was another sizeable step in the right direction.

"I bogeyed the last two but I don't give a rat's," said a smiling Harrington, who was clearly chuffed with his day's work. On the course where he won his first major title, the 2007 Open, the green shoots of recovery continued to spring up. The 43-year-old, one of Europe's Ryder Cup vice-captains at Gleneagles last week, languishes down in 324th place on the world rankings although you could have told him any number, to be honest.

"Have I fallen out of the top 300?" he asked with raised eyebrows. "I don't look at the rankings. Why would you look at that? You never look when you're going backwards. I didn't realise I had, though. Is it a tipping point for me? No. You wouldn't believe what I believe in my head. I think I'm better than ever."

After his second Open triumph in the summer of 2008, Harrington, twice a winner of the Dunhill Links title down the years, soared to third in the world but it's been a gradual comedown since then. There's a big light shining at the end of the tunnel, though, and that optimism is down to one thing.

"I'm holing putts again . . . woo hoo!" chirped the Irishman, who had reached the eight-under mark for his round yesterday with an eagle on 14 only to stumble on the tough run-in.

Harrington's last victory came on the Asian Tour in 2010 and he has notched just one top-five finish on the European Tour this season. Over in the US, the Dubliner has missed nine cuts in 17 events but Harrington is not one to dwell on what has gone before. He is only looking forwards and there are new ambitious goals on the horizon.

"I don't normally tell you my goals but my aim is top 15 in the world by 2016 for the Olympics; that's where I'm focused and I've got two years to do that," he said of a daunting task that is akin to scaling Mount Olympus in wellies.

"It makes no difference where I am in the world now because I've got 21 months of results counting from here on. So I'm starting at zero and working my way up. I'd just love to be an Olympic athlete, it would be very special. And also, if I make it into the world's top 15 I'll have done other things that are quite good, so it's not like it doesn't have its other rewards. But the Olympics is where the focus will be."

Wilson, who had nine runners-up finishes during a successful yet winless spell on the main European Tour but is now muddling on in the margins of the Challenge Tour, packed nine birdies into his 64 as he finished a stroke ahead of Frenchman, Raphael Jacquelin. With Mother Nature set to unleash her pent-up fury today, making hay while the sun shone on Carnoustie, the toughest of the three courses in operation this week, was a big bonus.

Shane Lowry tucked himself in among the frontrunners and finished alongside Harrington, his compatriot, after a six-under 66 at Kingsbarns, while Jamie McLeary was spearheading the Scottish assault in a share of fifth thanks to a 67 over the Kingsbarns links.

Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, had an eventful day at Carnoustie, duffing one off the first - "the one I hit about four inches behind the ball" - before enjoying a bit of down time with a dug on the 18th tee.

"There was this lovely black lab [labrador] sitting there and we were waiting so I got my doggy head cover out for him to play with for a bit," said the world No.1, who was left barking up the wrong tree with a one-over 73.

From the all-consuming frenzy of the Ryder Cup, yesterday's amble in Angus was about as intense as, well, a walk with the dog. "I was a little flat, to be honest," said McIlroy, who is partnering his dad, Gerry, in the pro-am contest this week. "With the crowds and everything that we were playing in front of last week, to come back here was a bit quiet."

Those anguish-laden yelps of 'fore' created a bit of a din, mind you.