Stephen Gallacher on a charge in Alfred Dunhill Links

Taking advantage of playing at Carnoustie in much easier conditions than the players there on Thursday faced, Gallacher carded a four-under-par 68 in the second round of the £3.85 million pro am on the European Tour.

That left the 2004 winner sitting joint-12th on five-under, four shots behind joint-leaders leader Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark and Italian Andrea Pavan, as he prepared to move on to St Andrews for the third circuit.

“You can never really tell in this event, can you?” replied Gallacher to being asked if he was happy about his position heading into the weekend. “You see guys shooting seven, eight under.

“That certainly wasn’t on here or Kingsbarns, where I was yesterday. But I’ve got 36 holes (the final round is also played at St Andrews) on the Old Course, where you can shoot well if you get it going.”

Gallacher has virtually secured his card for next season after recording four solid performances in a row, but he is still hoping to force his way into the season-ending Final Series.

“I’ve been playing well the last two or three months, to be honest,” he added. “Just not been holing enough putts at the right time. I’ve been playing alright, you just need to score a wee bit better, hopefully do that over the weekend.”

Needing a strong finish to his tenth successive European Tour campaign to retain his playing privileges, Edinburgh-based Richie Ramsay is on course to make the cut after firing a 70 at Carnoustie to sit joint-41st on one-under.

“I read a lot of motivational books and one of the analogies is of a steam train and to power it you have to get the steam going,” he said. “A degree or two there powers the train and it keeps going so If I can get out there and get a little run going the momentum will be there and I can do what I want.

“I’m not a Rory McIlroy or a Jordan Spieth, I just want to get the most out of my game while I have the opportunity to play in these events.”