(Reuters) - Australia's Jason Scrivener shot a spotless six-under-par 66 to grab a share of the lead on 14-under with compatriot Nick Flanagan at the halfway stage of the Vic Open in Barwon Heads on Friday.
Starting on the back nine, Scrivener carded six birdies to move to the top of the leaderboard at 13th Beach Golf Links while overnight leader Flanagan kept pace with a round of 68 that included five birdies and a bogey.
"Two solid days' work. Can't really fault it," Scrivener, who has three top-10 finishes from four tournaments in 2019, said. "I played nicely, so looking forward to the weekend.
"Any time your game is in a good place and you're constantly making cuts and putting yourself in contention, it's good for confidence. Over the last six months I've made big improvements in my game and steadily progressing the last couple of years."
Home players occupied the top five spots, with Wade Ormsby (66) in third place at 13-under, a shot ahead of Matt Jagar (66)and Brad Kennedy (65).
James Nitties, who matched Mark Calcavecchia's 10-year-old record with nine successive birdies on Thursday, slipped to tied for 44th place after a round of 74 put him on six under at the European Tour co-sanctioned event.
In the women's tournament, which is also the second stop on the LPGA circuit, American Kim Kaufman surged ahead with a second straight round of 66. She leads on 13-under, two ahead of Japan's Haru Nomura with local hope Su Oh third a shot further back.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)