Charging Perske, Porter share 36-hole lead

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FINGAL, VICTORIA, Australia -- Australians Ewan Porter and Wayne Perske braved 45 mph wind gusts on the Mornington Peninsula to move into a share of the lead at 6-under-par 138 at the halfway point of the Moonah Classic.

Wayne Perske had the round of the day on Friday in Australia. (WireImage)

Leaderboard

Moonah Classic

Pos. Player Fri. Total T1. Ewan Porter -1 -6 T1. Wayne Perske -5 -6 3. Rick Kulacz -3 -5 4. Terry Price -2 -4 5. Fran Quinn 1 -3

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Porter, a 25-year-old native of Cronulla, Australia, followed up a 67 on opening day with a 1-under 71 to maintain a grasp on the lead, but it was Perske who fashioned the round of the day with a 5-under 67 to join his best mate at the top of the leaderboard. Another pair of Aussies are within striking distance, including Rick Kulacz (69) who is one shot back and Terry Price (70) sitting two back.

"I'm over the moon to shoot one-under today because I really did not play that good," said Porter, who finished in a tie for 48th place at last week's HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship. "I did not play anywhere near as good as yesterday. I had to grind it out. My short game for two days in a row has held me in there."

After hitting 13 of 14 fairways in regulation on Thursday, Porter managed just four of 14 on Friday. His greens in regulation numbers remained fairly similar, however, as he hit 11 of 18 on Thursday and just one less during the second round.

"Strangely enough my iron play today was really, really solid and my driving was pretty ordinary," said Porter. "I was hitting it everywhere but mainly to the right."

Porter, who tallied five birdies and four bogeys, is hoping a great performance this week will lead to a home on the Nationwide Tour and ultimately the PGA TOUR.

"I think this is what co-sanctioning is all about," said Porter. "It is such a terrific opportunity that happened in all the years past. Steve Bowditch is a perfect example, and Gavin Coles who have gone, not from obscurity, but relatively unknowns to playing the PGA TOUR."

Despite having lived at one point in the shadows of Moonah Links for up to two years, Perske has never fared well when trying to tackle the par-72 Moonah Links course. That seems to be changing this week, as his round on Friday was nearly flawless -- with the lone exception being a bogey on the par-5 fourth hole.

"I have not played well here before, even living here for two years," said Perske, who plans to play on the Asian PGA Tour the remainder of the year.

"You can get away with a lot of tee shots if you hit them wide. You just don't want to hit them in the fairways bunkers. If you do, you are taking lob wedge out, maximum. If you are playing in the breeze, you have to hit a long iron in so you are struggling to make your bogey."

Australians hold the top four spots after two days of the co-sanctioned event on the Nationwide Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia. Fran Quinn recorded a 1-over 73 and sits in solo-fifth place at 3-under-par 141, representing the top American on the leaderboard.

Tee McCabe (70), Gibby Gilbert III (69) and Adam Bland (69) are four shots off the pace at the Tour's fourth consecutive event hosted on international soil.

Second Round News & Notes: The cut came at 4-over 148, with 72 players advancing to the weekend of the $850,000 (AUD) event ... How hard was the wind blowing on Friday? Tee McCabe eagled the par-5, 630-yard 18th hole with a driver and 8--iron ... Bryce Molder had a hole-in-one on the par-3 seventh hole on his way to a 4-under 32 -- the best score of the day on Moonah Links' opening nine holes. It was the fifth ace on Tour in 2008 ... Darron Stiles, winner of last week's HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship, posted a 4-over 76 on Thursday but still managed to make the cut on the number ... The second-round scoring average was 75.198 ... Only 13 players are currently under-par ... Brad Kennedy, Jeff Klauk (torn muscle) and Jonathan Fricke (back) withdrew during the second round.