Elvis Smylie and Cam Smith led a strong home contingent to earn a one-shot lead after the delayed second round of the BMW Australian PGA Championship.
Heavy downpours at Royal Queensland Golf Club forced play to be abandoned on Friday, with the second round taking place in glorious sunshine on Saturday in the 54-hole tournament.
Smylie held the first round lead thanks to a hole out birdie on his last hole on Thursday and he followed suit with birdie at the 18th to join Smith at the summit.
The 150th Open Champion carded one of the lowest rounds of the day with a brilliant 65 which yielded seven birdies and one dropped shot to set the clubhouse target at ten under, while Smylie mixed six gains and two bogeys in his 67 to top a leaderboard dominated by Australians at ten under.
Marc Leishman was their closest rival at nine under with only five non-Australian players sitting in the top 16.
"It was nice," Smith said. "It was a bit better day today, which always puts a smile on your face and obviously the golf was pretty good as well.
"Started really solid and kind of kept it going the whole way through. Maybe a few kind of errant shots there at the end, but you kind of expect that throughout round of golf. So yeah, pretty solid, all in all.
"I'd like to think this is my home event. This tournament's always been really nice to me and it's always really nice to be in contention here."
Aldrich Potgieter made a blistering start with a birdie-birdie start and when he rolled in from five feet at the third for another three, he was leader at seven under.
That left the door open for Smith to join him at the summit when he started with back-to-back birdies for the second round in a row and another at the fourth.
The young South African was unfazed though as he picked up further shots at the fifth, seventh and ninth to reach the turn in a blemish-free 30 and sit three clear at ten under.
Smith finished his front nine with a birdie to trim the lead and when Potgieter bogeyed the tenth, the 2022 champion was only one behind.
The four-time DP World Tour winner piled on the pressure when he chipped to close range at the 12th for another gain to return to the top at nine under, but they were not alone.
Harrison Crowe briefly made it a three-way tie at the top when he went birdie-eagle from the 11th, only to double bogey the 13th to slip back.
Smith chipped to inside a foot at the par-five 15th to tap in for birdie and become the outright leader at ten under.
The leading Australian found trouble off the 16th tee as he carded his first dropped shot of the day and Potgieter could not capitalise when missing a short birdie effort at the par-three 17th to remain tied at nine under.
The 31-year-old bounced back by sticking his tee shot inside three feet at the Party Hole to regain the solo lead at ten under, an advantage which stretched to two shots after Potgieter bogeyed the last.
Smylie began his round with a bogey before getting in the red numbers thanks to gains at the third, seventh and 12th.
The BEST of Cam Smith's round of 65 🎥#AusPGA pic.twitter.com/aLZuKMidut
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 23, 2024
A bogey came at the 13th, but he responded with a birdie at the next before picking up shots at the 16th and 18th to join his fellow Australian at ten under.
"I finished really strong," Smylie said. "Birdie at 16 and then managed a really good two-putt on 17 from a tricky position. And then, had really nice wedge shot into the last and made a nice five footer for birdie.
"I think I saw I’m tied for lead, which is good. So I'm obviously in a good position heading into tomorrow."
Leishman, who carded eight birdies and three dropped shots in his 66, got to within one when he completed a hat-trick of birdies at the 17th to sit in solo third.
Potgieter was one shot further back alongside David Micheluzzi, while Englishman Matthew Southgate, Switzerland's Joel Girrbach and Ben Eccles were at seven under.
Spaniard Ivan Cantero and South African Ryan van Velzen sat one shot adrift with six Australians; Jason Day, Cam Davis, Matias Sanchez, Lincoln Tighe, Harrison Crowe and Jack Buchanan.
