Memories are made of this. Calum Scott is certainly creating a few here at Royal Troon this week. In fact, you half expected him to burst into that Dean Martin croon as he appeared for his post-round chinwag with the golf writers.

A spirited one-under 70 for a three-over aggregate kept the 20-year-old from Nairn ticking along nicely in the 152nd Open Championship.

With a round to play, Scott is in pole position to secure the silver medal, that treasured memento awarded to the leading amateur in the field.

Scott has a three-shot cushion over his nearest rival Jacob Skov Olesen, the Danish man who beat the Scot in the quarter-finals of the Amateur Championship last month. Revenge is a dish best served on a silver medal?

“That would be nice,” said Scott with a smile. “Jacob is going to know where I’m sitting. I’m sure he’ll come out with guns blazing. I’d love to take the medal home.

There’s plenty of golf to play before he can do that but, whatever unravels on the final day, Scott won’t forget his major debut in a hurry.

“This is what these tournaments do, they create memories forever,” said Scott, who is aiming to follow in the footsteps of his former Walker Cup team captain, Stuart Wilson, who won the silver medal here at Troon 20 years ago.

“There so many opportunities to do something cool. It's the start of something that could be very good, and I'm excited for what the future holds.

“I didn't really know what to expect until I got here at the start of the week. Obviously, my locker is right next to Adam Scott, Scottie Scheffler, all the big names and surnames that start with an S.

“At first I was like, ‘wow, I don't know if I should be here’. But I got being star-struck out of the way and focussed on my game.

“Making the cut on Friday was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I felt I could enjoy myself a bit more on Saturday and Sunday and just do my thing. If that's good enough to win the silver medal, then I’ll be delighted.”

Ewen Ferguson was a happy man after he negotiated his way around the links in one-under for a four-over total.

The 28-year-old had one birdie and 17 pars in a round that was as neat and tidy as a nicely manicured hedge in a sprawling Troon villa.

It’s been a topsy turvy couple of weeks for Ferguson. There was the giddy high of victory in the BMW International Open, followed by the thump back down to earth of a missed cut in the Scottish Open.

The former Scottish Boys’ champion looked to be heading for an early exit here too until the wind helped push the cut mark up on Friday and he survived with a shot to spare.

“The margins are so bloody small in this game,” said Ferguson of the flummoxing, fluctuating fortunes of a maddening pursuit that can leave you scratching your head like Stan Laurel looking at a cryptic crossword.

“You never know when it’s going to go your way. It’s a mental game.”

Robert MacIntyre knows all about that. “Last week I was the champion, and this week I’m near the bottom of the pack,” said the recently crowned Scottish Open champion.

MacIntyre wasn’t too downbeat after a one-over 72 left him on six-over. After Friday’s farcical opening, which saw him leak eight shots in his first four holes before rallying to make the cut, the 27-year-old was happy to still be on duty.

“I thought I'd be sitting on my couch in Oban right now, not playing golf,” he added.

Left-hander MacIntyre had to show his ambidextrous qualities up the last and hit a right-handed shot with the clubhead turned around after his ball came to rest on the edge of a bunker.

“I couldn’t even stand in the bunker and hit it, so I just thought, ‘why not hit it right-handed?’,” said MacIntyre. His unorthodox swipe made a clean connection and he managed to get up-and-down for a par after his approach rattled the grandstand.

A grandstand finish indeed.