Gold Coast - Swede David Lingmerth mastered windy conditions to hold a one stroke lead at the halfway stage of the European Tour co-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast on Friday.
Lingmerth carded six birdies in his four-under 68 to lead a group of six golfers, including South African overnight leader Zander Lombard, after 36 holes.
World number 57 Lingmerth appeared to be one of few golfers with a good handle on the new-look course and the buffeting conditions.
"I know that I've won on the PGA Tour, probably the strongest tour in the world and I know I can do it," Lingmerth said.
"Of course that gives me some confidence going into the weekend but at the same time, these are all players that can shoot seven, eight under, both rounds out there over the weekend.
"I'm going to have to play very well to win but I do feel like I should have a good shot."
Lingmerth said he was disappointed top US drawcard Brandt Snedeker failed to make the final cut, the 34-year-old American crashing out with a wretched 15-over-par for the tournament.
"I want to beat him really bad ... but you want to beat the best players at their best, that's what gives you confidence and strength," he said.
South African pair Dylan Frittelli and Lombard, Englishman Mark Foster, American Peter Uihlein, Spain's Pablo Martin Benavides and Australian Matthew Millar were one off the lead.
The day's best performance came from US-based Australian Rhein Gibson, who fired a course record eight-under-par 64 to be two shots off the lead at one-under.
Scores after the second round of the European Tour co-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship at the par-72 Royal Pines course on the Gold Coast on Friday (Australia unless stated):141 - David Lingmerth (SWE) 73-68
142 - Mark Foster (ENG) 69-73, Zander Lombard (RSA) 67-75, Peter Uihlein (USA) 75-67, Matthew Millar 72-70, Pablo Martin Benavides (ESP) 75-67, Dylan Frittelli (RSA) 70-72
143 - Rhein Gibson 79-64, Todd Sinnott 71-72, Jason Scrivener 72-71, Ashley Hall 70-73, Tom Lewis (ENG) 72-71
144 - Ryan Fox (NZL) 74-70, Anthony Brown 73-71
145 - Nathan Holman 77-68, Aaron Pike 72-73, Deyen Lawson 75-70, Jordan Zunic 73-72
146 - Nick Cullen 72-74, Ben Eccles 74-72, Scott Fernandez (ESP) 74-72, Brett Rumford 74-72, Dimitrios Papadatos 75-71, Jack Wilson 73-73, Stuart Manley (WAL) 77-69, Michael Wright 76-70, Ben Wharton 76-70
Selected scores:
147 - Harold Varner III (USA) 74-73, Hyowon Park (KOR) 80-67, Erik Van Rooyen (RSA) 76-71, Paul Dunne (IRL) 72-75, Nino Bertasio (ITA) 75-72
148 - Bjorn Akesson (SWE) 74-74, JC Ritchie (RSA) 76-72, David Klein (GER) 77-71, Andrew Curlewis (RSA) 76-72
149 - Nicolo Ravano (ITA) 73-76, Borja Virto Astudillo (ESP) 72-77, Rourke Van Der Spuy (RSA) 76-73, Colin Nel (RSA) 78-71, Laurie Canter (ENG) 79-70
150 - Tyrone Mordt (RSA) 79-71, Divan Van Den Heever (RSA) 76-74, Darryn Lloyd (RSA) 78-72
151 - Jacques Kruyswijk (RSA) 72-79, Chris Hanson (ENG) 80-71, Matthew Baldwin (ENG) 79-72, Jens Fahrbring (SWE) 77-74, Sungho Lee (KOR) 76-75, Lasse Jensen (DEN) 77-74
152 - Rhys Enoch (WAL) 77-75, Justin Walters (RSA) 76-76, Ryan Carter (USA) 80-72, Liu Yan-Wei(CHN) 76-76, Charlie Ford (ENG) 78-74, Pelle Edberg (SWE) 77-75, Gary King (ENG) 76-76, Oliver Bekker (RSA) 75-77
153 - Kevin Phelan (IRL) 78-75, Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA) 76-77, Li Xin-yang (CHN) 76-77, Scott Jamieson (SCO) 79-74, Steve Surry (ENG) 76-77
154 - Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 77-77, Jacques Blaauw (RSA) 79-75
156 - Titch Moore (RSA) 80-76, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 78-78
157 - Paul Shields (SCO) 82-75, Sengyong Kim (KOR) 82-75
159 - Jinho Choi (KOR) 82-77, Stephen Ferreira (POR) 82-77, Brandt Snedeker (USA) 84-75
160 - Filippo Bergamaschi (ITA) 81-79
161 - Zhang Jin (CHN) 82-79
162 - Lukas Nemecz (AUT) 81-81
164 - Arthur Horne (SUI) 83-81
166 - Lean Boezaart (RSA) 88-78
172 - Mohammad Rauf Mandhu (ZIM) 84-88
Final cut was made at +6 (150)