Padraig Harrington relied on a little help from a friend and a switch in philosophy yesterday in Cologne to produce his best round of the year and set his season alight at the 11th-hour.

To charge into second place in the German Masters second round, Harrington broke the record on the infant course with an eight-under-par 64. It included chalking up five birdies in a row, something he thought he might have done before but was not quite sure when. On 11-under-par he is in the group just a stroke behind the US PGA champion and leader Vijay Singh.

It's not that unusual for Harrington to be among the ranks of those who have shot 64s and captured course records; in fact his best return on tour is 63, which he has achieved twice.

But the way things were going this year, a 64 looked out of his reach until a change of tack brought his game around yesterday. He achieved it `with a new, more relaxed attitude', and with a friend on the bag instead of his usual caddie John O'Reilly.

"I've just been too intense of late," Harrington said, "so the key today has been better attitude. I've been too hard on myself when I've hit a bad shot. It has to be a case of going with the flow to get results and that finally sunk in.

"I've a good friend on the bag this week, Ronan Flood from my home club. We spent a weekend going through the routine he would need to be in out on tour with me, playing at Mount Juliet, and he was a quick learner.

"I was more relaxed today than all year, not expecting too much from myself. And Ronan's doing a good job. He's reading a few putts with me, something I've not had for three years, so that's a bonus. John has always left it up to me, so it's a change there for me this week, too."

The change helped Harrington to run up eight birdies altogether, a mixture of stunning iron shots which left him putts of only four feet three times, two solid 12 to 15-footers and a well-judged 30-footer which just failed to drop for eagle.

His shot of the day for accuracy, though, was a chip-in from 15 feet on the 10th, his second birdie of that five-birdie run. If there had been any justice, at least two of the putts that failed to go to ground on the last five holes would have earned him the lead.

Asked if his 64 was as good as it gets, Harrington added: "Five birdies in the last five holes would have been as good as it gets. Any one of the last five could have been. But I enjoyed my run of five in a row, although it certainly made it a bit harder to concentrate. Five in a row is the most I've ever made I think, certainly I've never made six."

His regular caddie, O'Reilly, will not make a penny from whatever Harrington goes on to collect here now, and there is a golden £166,660 first prize on offer, with appropriate Ryder Cup points.

O'Reilly was given the week off so that university student Flood, a one-handicapper at Stackstown, could take a break in Cologne. Now O'Reilly could miss out on a possible £10,000 pay day.

The grizzled Dubliner was unabashed, however. He decided to come to Cologne anyway and yesterday was enjoying a beer when Harrington came in, having been released from Eamonn Darcy's bag, which he had picked up on Thursday after Darcy's carrier was injured. Hiding any thoughts of what he could be missing out on, O'Reilly shook Harrington's hand warmly and congratulated his young master on turning two missed cuts into a chance for a second tour title.

While Harrington flourished, late errors by Darren Clarke have put him on the back foot in the rankings race with Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie. They are with Harrington on 11-under, but Clarke is now only five-under after a 70.

It all started brightly as he fashioned four birdies in the first seven holes, but two late bogeys - after missing two good eagle opportunities by three putting on the closing par-fives - did him down.

An angry Clarke reported: "I'm very frustrated at making mistakes at the end of my round and I putted badly. I should be five or six shots better than I am."

Paul McGinley has overtaken him after his 68 took him to seven-under. Eamonn Darcy ended an unexpected trip to Cologne with a second 72 which left him two short on the cut-off. Raymond Burns has one event to go to save his card now after a 72 left him on five-over.

Philip Walton withdrew before the second round, reporting a wrist injury again.