Smith in sight of third Australian PGA title, Scott falls down the leaderboard

British Open champion Cameron Smith has birdied his final hole in the second round of the Australian PGA Championship to be one shot off the lead at the tournament’s halfway point in Brisbane.

Smith, a two-time winner and world number three, shot a 6-under-par 65 at Royal Queensland Golf Club, but a putting mishap on the par-three 17th hole ensured Western Australian Jason Scrivener held the outright lead at 10-under.

Friday morning’s big movers, Victorian Cameron John (65) and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura (66), are 8-under in a share of third place.

Smith’s playing partner Adam Scott made his only birdie of the day on the 17th hole, before finishing the round with a 1-over 72 to be 4-under for the tournament.

Scott, who began the day one stroke off the lead following a 5-under 66 in the opening round, is tied for 17th place.

Scrivener was bogey free in the second round but he will have to defy the charge of Smith, who handled the tougher afternoon breeze and drained a testing putt on the 18th to take outright second.

Poland’s Adrian Meronk’s four birdies in his last six holes moved him to 7-under and a share of fifth place alongside Queensland’s Anthony Quayle and New Zealand’s Denzel Ieremia.

Earlier, Western Australian Min Woo Lee, who was co-leader after the opening round, made three back-nine bogeys to fall to 4-under.

The $2 million event is co-sanctioned with the European Tour and carries valuable ranking points for those outside the world’s top 50 hoping to earn entry into next year’s Masters.

AAP/ABC