Lucas Herbert moves four clear at halfway stage

Local favourite Lucas Herbert extended his lead at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open to four shots at the halfway stage after producing two brilliant bursts of scoring in tricky conditions at Kingston Heath Golf Club on Friday afternoon.

Three-time DP World Tour winner Herbert began the day with a slender one-shot overnight lead following Thursday's 63 over at Victoria Golf Club.

And he continued to entertain his home crowds on day two, flying out of the blocks with an eagle and two birdies in the first three holes of his second round.

But as the wind got stronger, six successive pars followed before Herbert surrendered his first bogey of the week on the tenth, where a clutch 12-foot putt prevented further damage.

That cut his advantage to a single shot and although Herbert got into yet more trouble at the 12th, he managed to save par from six feet to remain out in front.

A hat-trick of birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th then handed him a healthy lead as Herbert signed for a stunning 66 to reach 14 under par at the midway mark.

Herbert's nearest challenger was American Ryggs Johnston after the rookie recovered from a slow start at Victoria Golf Club to sign for a 68 and reach ten under.

Last week's winner Elvis Smylie was among the large group another shot back in a tie for third after carding nine birdies and a single bogey in his 64 at Kingston Heath.

First-round leader Herbert could not have wished for a better start on Friday as he sent his approach shot at the first to around ten feet to set up an opening eagle.

And he kept the momentum going with back-to-back birdies on the second and third to jump to 12 under.

Herbert led by two shots at the turn after a run of six straight pars but suffered a wobble early on the back nine as he dropped his first shot of the week at the tenth before doing well to save par on the 12th.

He soon recovered, though, holing his four-foot birdie putt at the 13th before getting up and down from a bunker on the 14th for a second successive birdie.

And he made it a hat-trick courtesy of a stunning tee-shot at the par-three 15th which finished around two feet from the hole.

The 28-year-old then safely parred his way home to sign for a superb 66.

Herbert said: "I'm very happy. It's funny, I played pretty good yesterday, I just didn't really putt that well.

"And then I felt like I putted really well today, scrambled really well and the rest of the game was sort of off.

"It was kind of funny, it was like two days of polar opposites to have good scores. So it was nice for my putting to turn up when I needed it."