Jason Scrivener leads the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship by one shot at the halfway stage after firing a flawless 67 on day two.
First-round co-leader Scrivener started from the tenth tee early on Friday morning and made one birdie on his front nine before picking up three further shots after the turn to head into the clubhouse on ten under par.
None of the later starters were able to catch the 33-year-old Australian, with countryman Cameron Smith his nearest challenger on nine under after his 65.
Japan's Masahiro Kawamura and Australia's Cameron John were in a tie for third one shot further back.
Scrivener, who is searching for his maiden DP World Tour triumph, came into the second round tied alongside John Lyras and Min Woo Lee at the summit after kicking off his 2023 campaign with a 65 on Thursday.
He made slow but steady progress early on Friday, birdieing the 12th before parring the next six holes.
Scrivener broke that run of pars with a birdie at the first before picking up another shot on the par-three fourth.
He then took advantage of the long seventh to sign for a superb 67.
Scrivener said: "Quite different the two days really.
"Yesterday it was pretty stress-free and I hit the ball tee to green really well.
"Today it was a little scrappier, got away with a few things and scrambled well.
"All in all, pretty happy with it.
"It’s an approach play course, which is my strength. Obviously not the longest off the tee, but I feel like I can plot my way into the greens and be smart and then let the putter do its work."
Scrivener vowed to stick to the same game plan over the weekend.
"I’ll just do what I’ve done the last two days really," he added.
"I think you’ve got to be pretty patient out there; pick your places to be aggressive and then other times you’ve got to be pretty conservative.
"So I’ll stick to the same plan."
Adrian Meronk, Alejandro Cañizares, Denzel Ieremia, Anthony Quayle and Yan Wei Liu shared fifth place on seven under.
