Andrew Dodt fired an impressive second-round 67 to take a two-shot lead into the weekend at the Australian PGA Championship.
The home favourite held the overnight advantage after an opening 65 as day one was cut short due to storms but, by the time the second round got under way, he had Harold Varner III and Ashley Hall for company at the top of the leaderboard.
Hall recovered from a triple-bogey on the fourth to post a second-round 69 but that was not enough to keep Dodt at bay as he made birdies on the third, eighth, ninth, 14th, 15th and 17th with a bogey on the last to get to 12 under.
"The first handful of holes were really solid then I made a few birdies," Dodt told a press conference. "The first nine holes were really solid and then the back nine was as good as it gets, really. I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens and holed some putts.
"It was just a really solid day's work."
Fellow Australian Hall was in second place at 10 under, two shots clear of world number seven Adam Scott and New Zealander Ryan Fox, and three ahead of Varner.
England's Ian Poulter posted a 68 to sit at four under and he admitted that a 3.30am alarm call for a 5.30am start to complete his first round was not ideal preparation.
"I refused to set it any earlier," he said. "There was a car going to leave the hotel at 03.45 and I said, 'I'm still going to be asleep'. I love my bed. Someone who's half man/half mattress does not get out of bed at 3.30 to play golf, let alone to go to the airport to get to a tournament.
"That was a very early morning. I think that was the earliest wake-up call I've ever had in 17 years on Tour."
