Howell looked on course for a memorable round of his own when he chipped in on the 18th to move above the Northern Irishman on 12-under-par.

The 29-year-old dropped a shot at the first to move back on level terms with the former triumphant Walker Cup man but he pushed ahead again with a birdie at the second.

Carnoustie, which was beset by treacherous conditions when Scot Paul Lawrie won the Open there, was supposed to be the toughest of the three courses but McDowell started his round by picking up a shot and then secured three consecutive pars.

But he knew he was under attack not just from Howell but also from Peter Lonard and Ryder Cup star Luke Donald.

The Australian also got to grips with St Andrews straight away by starting with birdies at the 10th and 11th and 14th and he cancelled out a bogey by picking up a shot at the 18th.

Donald, another of Bernhard Langer’s heroes and Omega European Masters champion, was on six-under overnight after Kingsbarns. He picked up shots at the 12th and 13th and he too recovered from a dropped shot at the 15th to move back to 10 under with a birdies at the 18th, first and third holes on a rewarding St Andrews.

The old course was again proving to be the most rewarding of all the three courses and Colin Montgomerie was also quick to make his mark there.

The Scot launched his bid by picking up four shots in 12 holes to lie just two shots behind Donald and Lonard.

Little-known Englishman Jamie Donaldson was also having a day to remember as he picked up five shots to join Montgomerie and Louis Oosthuizen at eight-under.

Simon Dyson was looking to make a mockery of Carnoustie’s wild reputation by picking up four shots in the first five holes but he faltered with bogeys at the 18th and second.

But Howell’s impressive start could not push him and Samuel L Jackson to the top of the team leaderboard.

That honour belonged to Peter Hedblom and Joe P Kieser, who were 17-under and two shots ahead of the Englishman and his actor friend.

Donald moved to within two shots of the leader with a birdie at the fifth but McDowell dropped a shot at Carnoustie's 14th to move back to 10-under.

Montgomerie recovered from a bogey at the fourth to pick up a shot to move to eight-under with four to play alongside Lonard, who suffered a double-bogey six at the fourth.

Howell was joined at the top of the leaderboard by Ryder Cup team-mate Donald after he picked up birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes of his round at St Andrews.

McDowell stayed in contention by picking up a shot at the 17th to move back to 11 under par and two off the lead.

Montgomerie was also in the hunt, two shots behind, but world number one and two Vijay Singh and Ernie Els were well off the pace at five-under.

McDowell birdied the 17th but he slipped down the leaderboard to nine-under with a double-bogey six at the next.

Montgomerie finished on the same score and Donald carded 65 at St Andrews to be the leader in the clubhouse at 13-under.

Howell and Jackson were back on top of the leaderboard in the team event, level with Hedblom and Keiser.

Els had moved to six-under, but Singh was still struggling to get going at five-under.