GLASGOW, September 28, 2013 (AFP) - Uihlein narrowly missed an eagle putt on the ninth at Kingsbarns on Friday and had to settle for recording the 17th round of 60 in European Tour history instead of a record-breaking 59, but he finished his round on the Old Course on Saturday in stunning style.
The 24-year-old's pitch from 47 yards looped straight into the hole for an eagle two to complete a 65 and 20-under-par total in the pro-am event played at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews.
Uihlein was only one under after an opening 71 at Carnoustie but has played his last 36 holes in 19 under, eclipsing the previous record of 18 under set by Thomas Aiken in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in 2009.
However, with scoring conditions again perfect, that was only good enough to lead by two from Ernie Els, David Howell, Joost Luiten, Martin Kaymer, Richard McEvoy and Ireland's Shane Lowry, who equalled the course record with a 64 at Carnoustie after a bogey on his final hole.
England's Paul Casey also equalled the course record at St Andrews with a 62, although he was seven off the lead on 13 under.
"It was not quite what I was trying to do but it worked out," Uihlein said. "I carried it a bit too far but got a bit lucky and it's pretty sweet, a cool finish and a great way to sign off.
"I felt I missed quite a few putts coming down the stretch so it makes up for it a little."
Els has twice been part of winning Dunhill Cup teams for South Africa at St Andrews, but would love to win an individual title on Sunday, especially after making the cut in the pro-am event with his father Neels.
"I've been in a bit of a rut playing in the FedEx Cup in the States, playing week to week and kind of going brain dead. You don't know exactly what you're playing for," he said.
"To come here and play with my dad, who turned 70 this year, at these beautiful links courses makes a change and that's what I needed.
"It would mean a great deal to win this event especially with our close connection with (tournament promoter) Johann Rupert and his family. I've come close quite a few times and I feel I need to get my name on that trophy."
Selected third round scores and totals in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, Scotland (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 72):
St Andrews
196 - Peter Uihlein (USA) 71 60 65
198 - Ernie Els (RSA) 69 65 64, David Howell 67 68 63, Joost Luiten (NED) 67 63 68, Martin Kaymer (GER) 69 66 63
200 - Chris Paisley 72 62 66, Christopher Doak 70 67 63
201 - Darren Clarke 69 66 66, Michael Hoey 68 66 67
202 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 68 68 66, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 70 65 67, Julien Quesne (FRA) 69 66 67
203 - Paul Casey 74 67 62, Jamie Donaldson 65 67 71
205 - Bjorn Akesson (SWE) 69 68 68, Paul McGinley 70 68 67
206 - Retief Goosen (RSA) 70 68 68, Gregory Havret (FRA) 69 66 71, Padraig Harrington 76 66 64
207 - James Kingston (RSA) 72 69 66, Branden Grace (RSA) 70 69 68, Richard Sterne (RSA) 72 70 65
Failed to make the cut
210 - Vijay Singh (FIJ) 74 70 66
211 - Rich Beem (USA) 72 70 69, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 74 69 68, Peter Lawrie 73 69 69, Oliver Fisher 72 69 70
214 - Paul Lawrie 73 68 73
217 Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 71 72 74
Carnoustie
198 - Shane Lowry 68 66 64
200 - Hennie Otto (RSA) 68 63 69, Garth Mulroy (RSA) 66 69 65
202 - Tom Lewis 64 65 73, Eddie Pepperell 66 67 69
203 - Scott Jamieson 71 65 67
204 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 66 66 72, Chris Wood 66 69 69, Oliver Wilson 64 67 73, Alejandro Canizares (ESP) 69 65 70
205 - Brooks Koepka (USA) 69 66 70, Mikko Ilonen (FIN) 68 67 70, Matthew Baldwin 65 70 70, Mark Foster 65 66 74
206 - Greg Chalmers (AUS) 68 72 66, Matteo Delpodio (ITA) 68 67 71, Graeme Storm 67 69 70
207 - Gary Lockerbie 69 67 71, Anthony Wall 68 67 72, Richie Ramsay 69 70 68, Eduardo De La Riva (ESP) 67 69 71, Justin Walters (RSA) 68 69 70
Failed to make the cut
211 - Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 69 69 73, Haydn Porteous (RSA) 72 67 72, Richard Green (AUS) 73 68 70, Brandon Stone (RSA) 66 70 75, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 70 65 76
214 - Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (IND) 69 73 72
Kingsbarns
198 - Richard McEvoy 64 67 67
199 - Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 67 69 63
200 - Tommy Fleetwood 65 66 69, Thomas Levet (FRA) 68 64 68
201 - David Horsey 66 70 65, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP) 70 68 63
202 - Marc Warren 70 66 66
204 - Soren Hansen (DEN) 69 69 66, George Murray 65 69 70, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 70 71 63
205 - Alexander Noren (SWE) 67 72 66
206 - Joachim B Hansen (DEN) 69 69 68, Anders Hansen (DEN) 71 68 67, Alessandro Tadini (ITA) 66 70 70, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 69 69 68, Robert Coles 72 69 65, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 68 71 67, Morten Orum Madsen (DEN) 66 74 66, Simon Khan 69 71 66
207 - Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 68 71 68, Romain Wattel (FRA) 70 70 67, Richard Finch 68 71 68, Maarten Lafeber (NED) 71 70 66, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA) 64 70 73
Failed to make the cut
208 - Craig Lee 71 70 67, Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) 69 70 69, Simon Wakefield 68 72 68, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 71 71 66, James Morrison 69 71 68
210 - Justin Thomas (USA) 66 73 71, Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) 71 72 67, Steven Jones (AUS) 70 70 70, Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 73 69 68, Trevor Fisher Jnr (RSA) 70 72 68
212 - Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP) 72 69 71
214 - Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 73 71 70, David Duval (USA) 73 70 71, Lee Slattery 73 75 66
216 - Jesper Parnevik (SWE) 71 71 74
221 - Christian Cevaer (FRA) 76 75 70, Ricardo Santos (POR) 73 74 74, Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 72 75 74, Peter O'Malley (AUS) 74 74 73