ST ANDREWS, Oct 9: Britain's Luke Donald continued his remarkable run in Europe by setting up the chance of a third win in seven events when he took over the Links Championship lead on Saturday.

Donald only returned to the European Tour on the advice of Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer and tour executive director Ken Schofield.

The 26-year-old thanked the pair after shooting a four-under-par 68 at British Open venue Carnoustie to wrest the lead from Ryder Cup team mate David Howell.

"I'm indebted to Bernhard and Ken Schofield for persuading me to come over and play my (mandatory) 11 events because if I hadn't done so, I wouldn't be here now," said Donald after moving to 17-under-par 271. That put him two shots ahead of Howell and another European Ryder Cup debutant, Ian Poulter.

Cup captain Langer had been so impressed with Donald's U.S. Tour performances this season he told the young Briton he should return to Europe in the summer, having him in mind for a wild card for Oakland Hills if he did not qualify automatically.

While Donald did not quite get in by right, he did get a pick from Langer and proved one of Europe's success stories as America were thrashed 18 1/2 points to 9 1/2 points.

Donald took to Europe like a duck to water, soon winning the Scandinavian Masters and following up with victory in the European Masters.

"It was beyond my wildest dreams that I could go this far," added former successful Walker Cup amateur Donald. "It's got me to 30th on the world rankings and opened some doors for me, and I'll definitely be playing my 11 events here next year."

Howell's 71 at Carnoustie gave him a chance to improve on his third place in the WGC Championship last week. Poulter's 65 was only a stroke away from Colin Montgomerie's Carnoustie course record.-AFP