The 2003 European Tour rookie of the year – the first Irishman to win the award – holed his second shot from 116 yards on the second for an eagle two on his way to lowering the record, set by England’s Luke Donald on Friday, by a shot.

“I hit a great shot into the first and missed from five feet but eagled the second and it just took off from there,” said the 30-year-old Dubliner.

“I thought about shooting 64 in the shower this morning but you think a lot of things in the shower that don’t come true!

“I thought I’d missed the cut after a 74 on Friday, my caddie threw away his yardage book in disgust when I missed a putt on the 18th, but today I went out to try to shoot a good score and get into the top 20.”

Lawrie finished 56th on the Order of Merit last year but began the week in 88th position on the money list and not certain of keeping his card for next season when he had been expected to win a maiden tournament.

“The year’s not over yet,” added Lawrie. “It’s been a bit of a slow year but I’m still finding my feet in only my second year on tour.

“I thought if I made the cut this week my card was pretty much sealed although that was not my number one goal at the start of the year.”