From Ryder Cup cheerleader to Dunhill Links leader - the Belgian shining in Scotland

Having opened with a 65 at St Andrews on Thursday then signing for the same score at Carnoustie in the second round, Nicolas Colsaerts is out in front along with Australian Cameron John in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The Belgian said he’d “plotted my way around” the Old Course before using what he described as “local knowledge” to sign for eight birdies at the Angus venue. “Having played in this definitely helps,” he admitted.

He put an early bogey down to being a bit “agitated” before following birdies at the fourth and sixth with three gains in a row from the ninth then adding three more red numbers over the closing stretch. “Nine is not a hole that you usually birdie and, after that, I kept it going,” he added. “Birdied 17, which is also a hole you don't really birdie at Carnoustie. So, yeah, it all fit together.”

Colsaerts, a three-time DP World Tour winner, played with Rory McIlroy on the Old Course in one of his practice rounds. Perhaps inspired by that, he’s played some exceptional golf over the opening couple of days.

“It's normally a lot harder than this,” he said of Mother Nature having played ball so far, even though it was back to being more like a typical Dunhill Links day on Friday after a glorious sunny day on the east coast on Thursday.

“It blows a lot harder than this,” added the 2012 Ryder Cup player. “And the light's great. A couple of times during the last couple of days, you had that nice light that's coming in. It's been great. Like I said, having played this tournament over and over over the years, this definitely helps maneuvering the trouble.”

Colsaerts now moves on to Kingsbarns for his third round and something similar there could put him in a promising position into Sunday’s closing circuit at St Andrews.

“You usually want to get Carnoustie out of the way quickly because it's probably the toughest one,” admitted the 41-year-old, who could well be enlisted once again by Donald for that next edition of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black as he is a popular figure on the DP World Tour. “The stage I'm at, the way I see this profession and my career, I'll just take any rotation, to be honest with you. I'm just happy to be here.”

Colsaerts is playing in the team event with Ariel Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavour and TKO Group, the latter being owners of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) and WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).

“He's a bit of an icon in the Hollywood business, and he's amazing company,” said Colsaerts of the American. “He's really light-hearted. We have a laugh, and let's hope we can keep this going until Sunday.”

John, who sits 1007th in the Official World Golf Ranking, followed an opening 62 at Kingsbarns with a 68, which included a double-bogey 7 at the fifth, at St Andrews to also sit on 14 under after 36 holes. “It's just about having fun – that’s the outlook for the week,” said the 25-year-old.