Denmark's Thomas Björn fixed his sights on a second Heineken Classic title as he claimed the halfway lead at The Vines Resort in Perth. After Thursday had seen the Australians dominate the leaderboard, it was the turn of Europe to strike back with players from that continent filling three of the first four places.
Björn, who secured his second European Tour title at The Vines in 1998 before suffering a series of neck problems, collected four birdies on the back nine to overtake early pacemaker Michael Campbell - the current leader of the Volvo Order of Merit.
The Dane shot a second successive 68 for an eight under par total of 136, with New Zealander Campbell, 69, one shot further back. Another Scandinavian, Johan Skold of Sweden (67), shares fourth place with German Alex Cejka, who fired the tournament best 66 in his second round.
Björn is now seeking his fifth title on the European Tour. He missed a substantial part of the 1999 campaign with injury and the birth of his first child, but came back strongly to lift the Sarazen World Open title in Spain.
Skold, 24, a graduate from last season's Challenge Tour, briefly took over at the top with a sparkling 67 containing no fewer than eight birdies. He led the Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan last November, but followed an opening 66 there with rounds of 73, 77 and 81 to finish down in 58th spot.
Skold, playing his first event in Australia, said: "I'm a long hitter and it's pretty wide out there, so you don't have to be too careful."
As the overseas players made their forward move, Melbourne’s Geoff Ogilvy, the first round leader, slipped back into the pack with a 74.
Skold, who set the early club house lead at six under par after shooting a 67, had four birdies in the first six holes. Mike Clayton, once a regular in Europe and who regained his card at the Qualifying School, is one five under and in contention.
Clayton was the big improver, starting at three under and though he opened up with a bogey five at the first and again on the eighth, he then fired four birdies in five holes. His last four holes were a mixture of bogey, birdie, bogey and birdie to finish with a 70.
Open champion Paul Lawrie is placed at three under par after adding a 71 onto his opening 70 and is joined by Ernie Els after the South African's 69.
Lawrie briefly topped the leader board after just three holes, firing an eagle three and a birdie at the 10th and 12th holes to take his two under par overnight score to five under. Hitting off the 10th in an early group, Lawrie found the green on the 493-metre par five and holed out from 15 feet, but three successive bogeys from 14 to 16 saw him drop back.
Englishman Roger Chapman, who lost his card at the end of last year and regained it at the Qualifying School, challenged the lead when he reached six under at one stage. However he had four bogeys coming home and dropped back to two under.
