In this predictably unpredictable pursuit, you never want to tempt fate but when there are three Scotsmen in the last eight of the Amateur Championship, you start to tentatively flick through the record books for some enlightening historical morsels.

Those fickle golfing gods probably got wind of those pages being leafed down below, mind you, and will no doubt do their damnedest to ensure the Caledonian contingent of Jack McDonald, Grant Forrest and Greig Marchbank go no further than today's series of quarter and semi-finals.

Following the success of Blairgowrie's Bradley Neil in the championship last year, those remaining members of the tartan army here at Carnoustie are aiming for back-to-back Scottish triumphs in the unpaid game's most decorated contest ... and that's not been achieved for a heck of a long time. Indeed, you have to go back to the same year as Wullie Kellogg invented Corn Flakes and the automobile land speed record was set at a furious 39 mph to find a double whammy of wins. It was 1898 and Freddie Tait followed up Jack Allan's success the previous year to keep the shimmering clump of silverware north of the border.

McDonald, Marchbank and Forrest are inching ever closer in this long and winding golfing road to glory. In fact, Marchbank and Forrest were set to square up to each other this morning, guaranteeing at least one Scot in the last four later in the day. Marchbank, from the same Thornhill club that spawned Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart, overcame the big-hitting Finn, Miki Kuronen, by a 2&1 margin as he continued his impressive progress. Kuronen was regularly skelping his drives some 30 yards ahead of the Scot, but Marchbank refused to be rattled. He was under the cosh at times, particularly on the front nine when he had to hole important putts of 10-feet on five and 30-feet on six just to keep clinging to his rivals coat tails. Two down at the turn, Marchbank rallied on the inward half and birdies at 12 and 14 got his nose in front. "It was a bit rough on the front nine but I hit my best drive of the day on 10 and that kind of kick-started me," he said.

Forrest, who celebrates his 22nd birthday today, signalled his intent with a highly impressive 4&3 win over Ashley Chesters, the reigning European Amateur champion. Chesters bogeyed the first two holes, and then conceded the third and sixth, to hand Forrest a four hole lead early on and the Scot would not allow his opponent a sniff. The 10th hole was classic matchplay. Chesters knocked his approach in to 10 feet and Forrest was outside him but the Scot holed his birdie putt and the Englishman then missed his own attempt. "That was a big momentum swing," noted Forrest.

McDonald, meanwhile, burst away from his fellow Scot, Robert MacIntyre, with a trio of birdie at 12, 14 and 15 en route to a 4&3 triumph in their last 16 duel. The Barassie youngster certainly made the most of the "lifeline" he was afforded in his morning match with Englishman David Boote. Two down with just two to play, McDonald was on the brink but the menacing, perilous nature of Carnoustie's closing stretch means that it's never over until that slightly overweight wifie warbles. As Boote stumbled to bogeys at 17 and 18, McDonald reeled off two very good pars to restore parity before winning on the second extra hole. "Even at two down, you always have a chance here and you know that fours can be enough to win," he said.

This morning's last eight was set to feature a trio of Scots, one Englishman in Sean Towndrow and four flying Frenchman. Alexandre Daydou and Antoine Rozner will face one another this morning with Romain Langasque and Robin Sciot-Siegrist going head-to-head in the bottom half of the draw. Only Julien Guerrier, in 2006, and Philip Ploujoux, in 1981, have taken the Amateur trophy across the channel but, on the course where Jean van de Velde had his French farce in the 1999 Open, the current crop are proving to be a real French force.