Northern Ireland's precocious young star Rory McIlroy stormed to the top of the leaderboard in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship - with a little help from his Dad.

McIlroy thrilled the Old Course galleries with a rare birdie on the world-famous 17th Road Hole, and immediately followed it with another birdie at the 18th hole to shoot 65 for an eleven-under-par total of 133, then revealed it was his father Gerry, with whom he is playing in the Team Championship, who had inspired him to the grandstand finish.

McIlroy, 20, said: "On the 16th, I three putted for my first bogey of the day and going onto the 17th tee Dad came to me and said 'You've finished three-three here before, so why don't you do it again'. I was able to. I hit a great 7 iron into the 17th green to 12 feet and was able to hole it which was nice. I've never driven the 18th green before, so it was nice to finally do that. It was a great way to finish the round, and I'm very pleased to be at 11 under-par.

"The last couple of months, I've just played really, really solid golf. I've always seemed to be up there and especially with my dad with me this week, it's a little more relaxed. I think that's why I've started so well."

Asked if he would rather win the individual Alfred Dunhill Links title himself or the Team Championship with his father, he said: "I would obviously be very happy to win the title, but just to walk up the 18th on the last day with my Dad would be pretty special. We are lying 13th at the minute, so we need a good one tomorrow to guarantee top 20 so we can both play on Sunday. I never thought a few years ago, I'd be able to walk up the 18th hole at St. Andrews with him in a tournament this big. It's incredible how the last four or five years have gone."

Gerry McIlroy, who is 50 on Monday and who plays at Holywood Golf Club in Belfast where Rory learned his golf, said: "It was such a treat playing with Rory. Since he missed that putt in the European Masters at Crans sur Sierre last year he's been unbelievable. What a turnaround. He just seems to be getting better and better. I've really enjoyed his company during this tournament. I haven't played golf at all for about two years until about three months ago when I started to play again. I was brought up on parkland and I've really not played much links, but this event has been really good fun."

McIlroy had played the first nine on the Old Course in 31 with three birdies and an eagle three at the 5th hole. He birdied the 14th, before dropping the shot at the 16th which sparked his explosive finish. He currently shares the halfway lead with fellow Ulsterman Michael Hoey, who shot 66 at Carnoustie, and Richie Ramsay, who heads the Scottish challenge with a 66 at St Andrews. Ramsay, 26, who only secured his place in the tournament when World No.4 Paul Casey pulled out with a continuing rib muscle injury, seems set for a good finish which could secure his playing card for next season's European Tour. Before the start of the Championship, he was 40,000 short of the qualifying 115th place with just three scheduled events remaining.

He said: "One big week could make all the difference. This is a huge event in terms of the field and ranking points so there is no better time to knock off a big performance. This was a really good day and fantastic to shoot a good score around St. Andrews. You watch it all the time as a boy, guys shooting scores to win tournaments here, and it's nice to have that sort of score under your belt. That's my lowest score on the Old Course. I played it a few times in university matches when we played the R&A, but that was off the forward tees."

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has been a happy hunting ground for Scottish golfers since its inception in 2001 with victories for Paul Lawrie, Stephen Gallacher and Colin Montgomerie, and Ramsay will be hoping to be the next name on the trophy.

The tournament, conceived as a celebration of links golf, is played over three of the world's best known and respected links courses - the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links. Conditions were less sunny than the first round, but there was very little breeze which produced a day of excellent scoring on all three courses.

Scotland's Alastair Forsyth shot a 64 at Kingsbarns, which bounced him up the leaderboard to joint fourth, along with England's Simon Dyson and Ross McGowan, and Finland's Mikko Ilonen, who also carded a 64 at St Andrews.

Forsyth, who like Ramsay is trying to become the first Scot to win on the European Tour for 18 months, said: "This is one of the biggest events we have on the Tour, not just for prize money but for prestige. To win this event, you have to beat some of the top players in the world. But I think after two rounds, with Carnoustie still to play, it's too early to start thinking like that. If I am still there after tomorrow, I'll be really pleased."

Darren Clarke (68) and Paul McGinley (67) are nicely placed three shots behind, but first round leader Thomas Bjorn went backwards at the more difficult Carnoustie course with a two-over-par 74, and now lies joint 20th on six-under-par. Ireland's Padraig Harrington and England's Lee Westwood are seven shots behind on four-under-par, while South Africa's three-times major champion Ernie Els had a 72 at St Andrews which left him on level par for the Championship.

Manuel De Los Santos, who lost a leg in a car accident when he was 18, continued to impress in the Team Championship. Playing with professional Richard Bland, the pair scored a betterball 63 at the difficult Carnoustie course for a two round total of 15-under-par, six shots behind the leaders. Manuel is supported by Allianz, which is a partner of the St Andrews Links Trust.

Partnering the professionals are an enthusiastic group of talented amateur golfers, who compete for the Alfred Dunhill Links Team Championship. Celebrities from the world of entertainment taking part include film and TV stars Hugh Grant, Greg Kinnear, George Lopez, Kyle MacLachlan, John O'Hurley and Aidan Quinn, and music legends Don Felder, co-writer of Hotel California from the Eagles, Ronan Keating, Huey Lewis, Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres and American country singer Clay Walker.

Many of the world's legendary sports stars are taking part including a strong team of former footballers including England's Sir Bobby Charlton and Jamie Redknapp, Holland's Marco van Basten, Johann Cruyff and Ruud Gullit, and Scotland's Alan Hansen. Also playing are Olympic rowers Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Steve Redgrave, British tennis hero Tim Henman, former rugby players Sean Fitzpatrick and Gavin Hastings, cricket's Sir Ian Botham, Mark Nicholas, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh and Michael Vaughan, American Football running back Marcus Allen and Downhill ski star Franz Klammer.

Australia's most successful cricket captain Steve Waugh and professional Scott Strange shot a remarkable betterball 58 at Kingsbarns to stand on 21-under-par in the Team Competition. Waugh said: "I played really well and had six birdies. I have never had that in my life. It was a once in a lifetime round. The best shot was a 3 wood into one of the par fives to six feet. I missed the putt, so it could have been an eagle, but ill take it. For the amateurs this has got to be the highlight of a golfing career. Playing with the pros on such a great course at the Home of Golf - it doesn't get much better than that."

The galleries are used to seeing a McManus at the top of the Team Championship leaderboard, but on this occasion it was Kieran McManus, son of Irish racehorse owner and businessman J.P.McManus who has won the Team Championship twice. Kieran McManus and playing partner Soren Hansen from Denmark are one shot behind Strange & Waugh on 20-under-par after a betterball 61 on the Old Course. McManus said: "I would love to win it once, let alone twice like my father. At the moment it's so far, so good. Our fourball was very enjoyable, including Don Felder from the Eagles. It was a really nice round."

Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres and 2008 US Masters Champion Trevor Immelman are 12-under-par for the Championship. Torres said: "It was great today. We ham and egged it - that's a term we use in the States where if I falter my partner birdies and if he falters then I birdie. When you are playing at the Home of Golf with such a great player as Trevor you can't beat that. We've been friends for a while. We met through the Dunhill and we're also friends back home. I gave him a set of drums, which he plays. He gives me tips on golf and I give him tips on drumming."

Hollywood star Kyle MacLachlan, on 11-under-par with Irish Ryder Cup star Paul McGinley, said: "Before today's round I had a short lesson with Bob Torrance over on the range and he got me thinking about something that was missing in my swing. So for the better part of the day I was able to incorporate that into my game, but towards the end of the day I slipped back into my old habits. But overall I played better and it felt better today."