Jason Scrivener takes lead at Australian PGA Championship

South Africa-born tour professional Jason Scrivener has taken the outright lead at 10-under midway through day two of the $2 million Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland on Friday.

Scrivener followed up yesterday’s six-under 65 with a second-round 67 to jump into the lead just before the big guns, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith, teed off in front of a bulging gallery already lined up down both sides of the first fairway.

Scrivener, 33, who moved to Perth when he was only 10, has been playing solidly on the European Tour without having a stellar year.

Today he produced a blemish-free round, with birdies dropping on the first, fourth, seventh, and 12th holes.

He also birdied the fourth and 12th holes in his first round.

Scrivener said the par-71 course had played differently the past two days and would be even tougher on the weekend with tricky pin placement.

“(It was) quite different the two days really. Yesterday it was pretty stress-free and I hit the ball tee to green really well,” he said.

“Today it was a little scrappier, got away with a few things and scrambled well.

“All in all, pretty happy with it.”

Refreshed after a few weeks off, Scrivener admitted he hadn’t had an enjoyable year.

“Actually, it was a pretty average year by my standards,” he said after climbing into the lead.

“I’ve just struggled on Sundays as well.

“I put myself into decent positions but just can’t put the finishing touches on the tournaments a lot of the time.

“It’s kind of nice to start fresh here this week, a new season, and looking forward to the 2023 season.”

READ: Adam Scott starts strong as crowds flock to Australian PGA

Scrivener held a two-shot lead over Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura, who added a five-under 66 to his opening 68 to be on eight-under.

Victorian John Cameron had a super round of six-under 65 to climb the leaderboard to join Kawamura in second place.

Cameron posted seven birdies and his only slip-up was a bogey at the 180m par-three eighth hole.

Smith and Scott were towing around a giant gallery and giving them plenty to cheer early in their second rounds.

The reigning British Open champion brought a loud roar from the crowd when draining birdie putts on both his first two holes.

Scott though was out-of-sorts early, dropping shots on the fourth and sixth holes in an uncharacteristic start by the US Masters champion.

Conditions were perfect for players to go low if they wanted to attack, but as Scrivener warned, being too aggressive could be costly.

Asked if he might give into the temptation to “attack the course” from his great position after 36 holes, he insisted he would stick to his game plan all weekend.

“No (I won’t be attacking, I’ll just do what I’ve done the last two days really,” Scrivener said.

“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.

“I’ll stick to the same plan.”

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