Pádraig Harrington overcame his own high expectations to keep his hopes alive of hunting down the young guns and claiming his 16th European Tour win in the Scottish Championship.

Driving the ball brilliantly and still putting well, Europe's Ryder Cup captain added a 69 to his opening 66 to lie just three strokes behind leaders Matt Wallace and Spain's Adrian Otaegui on nine-under at Fairmont St Andrews.

"I think today I didn't play as well as yesterday due to expectations," Harrington confessed. "I hit the ball really well off the tee yesterday. I'm putting very well at the moment, so my expectations were high today. 

"And you know yourself, with high expectations you get a little bit tight on yourself at times. So I didn't play quite as well today, but three under is a nice return."

He was playing alongside one of his potential Ryder Cup team members in Wallace, who shot 67 to get to12-under before being joined in the lead by overnight pacesetter Otaegui, who followed his 62 with a 70.

They are one stroke clear of Scottish Open winner Aaron Rai and two ahead of France's Adrien Saddier with Harrington tied fourth with England's Paul Waring and Garrick Porteous.

Now 49, Harrington remains hugely competitive and having worked hard for years to keep up the big hitters, he believes he can still give the young guns more than a run for their money.

"I want to be competitive at the top level," he said. "I've been obsessed with trying to keep up with these young guys. I really can at times. I've a lot more speed on the range than I have on the course, I see days where it's good. 

"My whole career I've been one level down from the longest hitters, and I'm still there now. I wouldn't hit is as far as the longest hitters. If it was a long-drive competition I'd go for it, but not on the golf course. I'm hitting it straight – and a decent distance. 

"Yesterday I gained 2.9 shots off the tee, which is unheard of for me. Driving it well and putting it well is a good combination."

"I don't make predictions because I tend to get them wrong and they get into your head," Harrington said when asked for the winning score tomorrow. "You just have to make as many birdies as you can. 

"I think the golf course is very scoreable, but as we get to the business end of the tournament, it could get a little tighter. There is rough out there where you could lose a ball or two, so scoring could hit that wall as it does in most tournaments, but I'm not calling a number."

He was golf's original Bryson DeChambeau, but as he watches the arrival of more and more longer hitters, he's happy he won't have to compete with the bombers for much longer.

"I tried everything and more than Bryson," Harrington added. "I'm very impressed with Bryson because it's really hard to change. I know he had all that speed but being able to bring that to the golf course is quite impressive.

"Why people didn't see this in 1996, Tiger had a huge length advantaged – a great driver of the ball. He was so long off the tee he ended up playing a softer golf ball than the rest of us in the 2000s. He was still longer but played with a golf ball that nobody else could have played with, because it was so soft. Then Rory and DJ came along.

“They were more of a change because when you have one long guy, it doesn't matter, because he can't win every week. When you have five, six then all of a sudden ten or 20, you have to pick one of those. If there are 20 long guys on Tour you have to pick one of them to win every week, it's a matter who of those play well. One, it's still okay, I won't be around, but in ten or 15 years' time, you'll have 20 or 30 guys on Tour like Cameron Champ – close to 200mph ball speed, within themselves, not swinging it out of their boots, hitting it nicely. I'm glad I won't be around to compete with them.

"I won't be around but in ten or 15 years' time, you'll have 20 or 30 guys on Tour like Cameron Champ – close to 200mph ball speed, within themselves, not swinging it out of their boots, hitting it nicely. I'm glad I won't be around to compete with them." 

Clandeboye's Jonny Caldwell also had a good day at the office, firing seven birdies in a 66 to share eighth place on eight-under.

"It was nice to get out early and take advantage of some benign conditions," said Caldwell, who did not dare tempt fate and predict a big week but simply hoped for tougher weather over the weekend. "I tend to do well on tough golf courses in tough conditions. Where pars are good, I tend to play my best."

Cormac Sharvin (71) and Gavin Moynihan (73) missed the one-under cut by two shots while Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney was forced to withdraw before the start still suffering from the effects of the back injury that hampered him on day one.

"I tweaked my back on the first hole yesterday and really struggled since," said Kearney, who was making just his fourth European Tour start this season. 

"I was in agony but knew I had 24 hours between finishing and starting today, but despite the best efforts of the physio and doctor, I couldn't move at all this morning. 

"It's very disappointing. You wait a few weeks for a tournament, and you can't perform."

Player quotes

Matt Wallace: "Anytime you shoot under par like we've done the first two days, they're both as good as each other. Yesterday was obviously a really nice start to get you into a tournament and then I kind of slowed down a little bit. Today was kind of the opposite. It was kind of a slow start, slowish start, but steady and then I picked up on the back nine.  

"You always like to, always hope to (impress the Ryder Cup Captain) but it's not always the case. It's good that I've done that in front of him, but I'm not sure it'll make much difference to Padraig. He will want players to be in there on merit and then if it comes down to a pick, then he'll want someone that's in form.

"I'm going to try and do it where I don't need a pick this time, so this is a nice start. I'm taking in some good form from the last few weeks without posting any numbers, so hopefully, I can do that this week."

Adrian Otaegui: "When I finished yesterday, I wish I could have stayed on the course and kept playing another 18 holes or another 36 holes. It's just another day with different feelings, and I still think I did quite well today.

"I'm happy with the way I felt on the course, the way I played and obviously I had some bad holes today, but I had some good ones, and that's golf. I think the most difficult thing is to keep the momentum. When something breaks, it's just a different momentum, and you have to try and get it again.  

"I would love it (a stroke-play victory). I know it's going to happen. My favourite way of golf is stroke play, so I definitely want to win that way."

Aaron Rai: "I was actually trying to play it a couple of yards right and pulled it a little bit, but it was a good shot, and you'd take that any day (eagle on the first hole). It is tricky to try and settle yourself in between that shot and walking to the next because you do have quite a lot of time to think about it. I did feel quite settled after that.  

"I'm trying to focus on myself as much as possible and just to continue to do exactly what I've been doing over the last few months. If I do that, I'll give myself chances to keep getting better and keep progressing.

"I asked Lee Westwood yesterday what keeps him motivated and his simple answer was he loves the game. It's so refreshing to hear that from someone of his stature and his point of view in his career right now, and I hope to do the same as much as possible." 

Scottish Championship presented by AXA, Fairmont St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland 

Detailed scores

132 A Otaegui (Esp) 62 70, M Wallace (Eng) 65 67,

133 A Rai (Eng) 66 67,

134 A Saddier (Fra) 67 67,

135 P Harrington (Irl) 66 69, G Porteous (Eng) 66 69, P Waring (Eng) 68 67,

136 M Warren (Sco) 67 69, S Crocker (USA) 70 66, J Caldwell (Nir) 70 66,

137 B Easton (RSA) 65 72, C Paisley (Eng) 66 71, B Stone (RSA) 67 70, L Westwood (Eng) 67 70, D Coupland (Eng) 68 69, M Southgate (Eng) 69 68, K Reitan (Nor) 73 64,

138 A Wu (Chn) 67 71, E Pepperell (Eng) 68 70, A Meronk (Pol) 68 70, M Simonsen (Den) 69 69, S Chawrasia (Ind) 69 69, M Armitage (Eng) 70 68, D Gavins (Eng) 70 68, C Howie (Sco) 70 68,

139 E Ferguson (Sco) 67 72, G Havret (Fra) 69 70, M Jordan (Eng) 71 68, J Harding (RSA) 75 64,

140 G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp) 67 73, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 71, J Donaldson (Wal) 70 70, D Perrier (Fra) 70 70, C Syme (Sco) 70 70, P Figueiredo (Por) 70 70, B Stow (Eng) 70 70, J Walters (RSA) 71 69, W Besseling (Ned) 71 69, O Wilson (Eng) 72 68, S Soderberg (Swe) 72 68, P Eriksson (Swe) 73 67, D Law (Sco) 73 67, O Farr (Wal) 73 67,

141 R Paratore (Ita) 68 73, B Evans (Eng) 69 72, A Levy (Fra) 70 71, J Morrison (Eng) 72 69, D Van Driel (Ned) 72 69,

142 S Jamieson (Sco) 67 75, H Long (Ger) 69 73, Z Murray (Aus) 69 73, C Hill (Sco) 70 72, J Stalter (Fra) 70 72, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 72, L Scalise (Ita) 71 71, B Poke (Den) 71 71, R Santos (Por) 71 71, R Petersson (Swe) 71 71, A Chesters (Eng) 72 70, L Van Meijel (Ned) 72 70, R Ramsay (Sco) 74 68,

143 S Tiley (Eng) 69 74, T Gandy (Imn) 70 73, S Sharma (Ind) 71 72, J Fahrbring (Swe) 72 71, J Sj?holm (Swe) 72 71, D Young (Sco) 72 71, M Schneider (Ger) 73 70, S Horsfield (Eng) 74 69,

CUT

144 R Jacquelin (Fra) 72 72, N Lemke (Swe) 73 71, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 75 69, D Dixon (Eng) 77 67,

145 S Gallacher (Sco) 71 74, G Moynihan (Irl) 72 73, L Johnston (Sco) 73 72, C Sharvin (Nir) 74 71, A Cockerill (Can) 75 70, J Senior (Eng) 76 69,

146 D Howell (Eng) 73 73, W Ormsby (Aus) 73 73, J McLeod (Aus) 74 72, T Tree (Eng) 74 72, G Bhullar (Ind) 75 71, M Lee (Aus) 76 70,

147 D Whitnell (Eng) 75 72, R Wattel (Fra) 75 72, D Burmester (Rsa) 75 72,

148 M Kawamura (Jpn) 74 74, R Cameron (Sco) 76 72, G Forrest (Sco) 76 72, M Campbell (Nzl) 77 71, J Kaske (Fin) 78 70,

149 C Wood (Eng) 73 76, O Lengden (Swe) 75 74, N Hojgaard (Den) 77 72,

150 R McGowan (Eng) 74 76, E Walker (Sco) 74 76, M Fenasse (Fra) 78 72,

151 D Huizing (Ned) 76 75, C Sordet (Fra) 77 74, J Wrisdale (Eng) 79 72,

154 S Hend (Aus) 75 79,

160 L Slattery (Eng) 82 78,

** Out A Cañizares (Esp) 79 Rt, R Macintyre (Sco) 78 Wd, N Kearney (Irl) 75 Wd, C Shinkwin (Eng) Rt