Teenager Rory McIlroy will take inspiration from double Open champion Padraig Harrington as he attempts to win his first European Tour title in the Dunhill Links Championship.

McIlroy looked set to break his duck in the Omega European Masters at the start of last month, taking a four-shot lead into the final round only to eventually lose out to Jean-Francois Lucquin in a play-off.

But the 19-year-old from Northern Ireland is on course to have another chance this weekend after a hugely impressive second round of 69 at Carnoustie - where he finished leading amateur in the Open last year - left him just one shot off the lead.

Austria's Markus Brier shrugged off the bitterly-cold conditions to return a 70 at St Andrews and lead on eight under par, one ahead of McIlroy, Germany's Martin Kaymer and Ryder Cup team-mates Soren Hansen and Robert Karlsson.

"Padraig called me over on Wednesday and said 'hard luck' and that he knew how it felt, we've all blown tournaments that we should have won.” Rory McIlroy

McIlroy, who would have been the third-youngest winner in tour history in Switzerland and could be the fourth-youngest on Sunday, said: "Padraig called me over on Wednesday and said 'hard luck' and that he knew how it felt, we've all blown tournaments that we should have won.

"He's been second on tour 29 times and learnt how to win. He hasn't had a second place for three years. He told me to keep getting experience, get yourself up there again and you'll win.

"The more you are there the more you will learn and you'll close it out.''

McIlroy finished third in this event last year in just his second event since turning professional, earning enough money to secure his European Tour card for 2008.

"I'm doing as well as last year, I would love to repeat that finish and even go better,'' the former European amateur champion said.

"I need to get into position first to have a chance to do that. If I do I'm sure my recent experience in Switzerland will help me.

"It didn't quite happen for me then but I'm playing well again this week and I've probably got the easiest course of the three tomorrow. I know the top guys are having to come here to Carnoustie so if I can go out at Kingsbarns and do well I could be right up there.''

Harrington himself is just two off the lead after a 71 at St Andrews as he seeks a third victory in the event which would almost certainly see him finish the year as European number one for the second time.

The Open and USPGA champion currently heads the Order of Merit by £180,000 from Lee Westwood, who would have been £100,000 closer by beating Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in a play-off for the Quinn Insurance British Masters at The Belfry on Sunday.

Westwood is alongside Harrington on six under par with second-placed Karlsson also still in with a shout of lifting the Harry Vardon Trophy.

The 6ft 5in Swede is third in the money list another £100,000 behind Westwood, but the first prize on Sunday is £432,000 and three other lucrative tournaments remain this season.

Collated second round scores & totals in the European Tour Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, St Andrews, Carnoustie & Kingsbarns, Fife, Scotland (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

St Andrews
136 Markus Brier (Aut) 66 70
137 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 67 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 64 73, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 65 72
138 Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 70 68, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 67 71, Gary Orr 66 72, Michael Campbell (Nzl) 68 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 66 72, Lee Westwood 68 70, Padraig Harrington 67 71
139 David Howell 66 73
140 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 66 74, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 72, Ross Fisher 64 76, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 71
141 Charley Hoffman (USA) 69 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 71, Mark Murless (Rsa) 69 72, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 68 73
142 Anthony Wall 66 76, Paul Casey 72 70, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 71 71, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 70 72, Miles Tunnicliff 68 74
143 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 75, Graeme McDowell 68 75, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 73, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 67 76, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 69 74, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 75
144 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 68 76, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 74
145 Justin Rose 71 74, Oliver Wilson 69 76, Colin Montgomerie 70 75, Nick Dougherty 74 71, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 74, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 70 75, Graeme Storm 72 73
146 Darren Clarke 72 74
148 James Kamte (Rsa) 70 78, Paul McGinley 73 75, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 74 74
149 Alex Haindl (Rsa) 73 76, Ernie Els (Rsa) 73 76, Gary Murphy 74 75, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 73 76, Chris Rodgers 73 76, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 71 78
150 Warren Abery (Rsa) 72 78, Richard Finch 78 72, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 72 78
151 David Griffiths 75 76, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 75 76, Keith Horne (Rsa) 77 74

Carnoustie
137 Rory McIlroy 68 69
138 Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 68 70
139 Marc Warren 66 73
140 Jamie Donaldson 70 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 66 74, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 69 71
142 Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 73, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 68 74
143 Lee Slattery 68 75, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 74, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 66 77
144 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 72, Phillip Archer 67 77, Phillip Price 71 73, Scott Drummond 67 77, Peter Fowler (Aus) 68 76, Bradley Dredge 71 73, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68 76
145 Sam Walker 69 76, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 76, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 70 75
146 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71 75, Steve Webster 70 76, Stephen Gallacher 70 76, Joost Luiten (Ned) 73 73, Ariel Canete (Arg) 68 78, David Lynn 70 76
147 Alastair Forsyth 70 77
148 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 76, David Drysdale 72 76, Steven Jeffress (Aus) 72 76, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 77, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 68 80
149 Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 71 78, Marcel Siem (Ger) 68 81, Scott Strange (Aus) 72 77, Simon Dyson 70 79, James Nitties (Aus) 69 80, Kane Webber (USA) 75 74, Matthew Millar (Aus) 72 77, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70 79, Sam Little 72 77, Gregory Havret (Fra) 74 75
150 Andrew Coltart 72 78, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 72 78
151 Scott Hend (Aus) 73 78, Scott Barr (Aus) 73 78, Benn Barham 75 76, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 79, Greg Owen 74 77
153 Titch Moore (Rsa) 68 85, Chris Wood 70 83
154 Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 73 81
155 Pablo Martin (Spa) 74 81
158 Leif Westerberg (Swe) 76 82
160 Gary Simpson (Aus) 76 84

Kingsbarns
141 Peter Lawrie 70 71, Thomas Levet (Fra) 67 74
142 Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 68 74
143 Garry Houston 69 74, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 73, John Bickerton 71 72
144 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 76
145 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 72 73, Damien McGrane 71 74, Oliver Fisher 70 75, Paul Broadhurst 76 69
146 Peter Hanson (Swe) 75 71, Alexander Noren (Swe) 73 73, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 72 74, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 74 72, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 69 77
147 Jamie Moul 68 79, James Kingston (Rsa) 72 75, Richard Green (Aus) 72 75
148 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 76, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 74 74, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 74 74, Robert Rock 71 77, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 73 75
149 Tony Johnstone (Zim) 73 76, Robert Dinwiddie 75 74, Paul Lawrie 72 77, David Dixon 68 81, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 72 77, Simon Khan 71 78, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 74 75
150 Won Joon Lee (Aus) 68 82, Mark Foster 73 77
151 Simon Wakefield 73 78
152 Ewan Porter (Aus) 75 77, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 71 81
153 Sam Torrance 76 77, Iain Pyman 76 77, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 76 77, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 76 77, Stuart Manley 71 82, David Frost (Rsa) 77 76
154 Adam Bland (Aus) 75 79, Peter Whiteford 77 77, Julien Clement (Swi) 73 81, Ross McGowan 75 79, Lloyd Saltman 73 81
155 Paul Waring 79 76, Barry Lane 77 78
156 Ryan Blaum (USA) 77 79, Tom Whitehouse 78 78, Unho Park (Aus) 77 79
157 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 72 85, Iain Steel (Mal) 73 84, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 77 80
164 Anton Haig (Rsa) 81 83