Cameron Smith was joined at the top of the leaderboard by Jake McLeod as the third round of the Australian PGA Championship got under way on the Gold Coast.
The defending champion fired a brilliant 65 on day two at RACV Royal Pines Resort as he looks to become the first player to successfully defend this title since Robert Allenby in 2001.
He started with three pars on Saturday to stay at nine under and was joined there by McLeod who made a birdie on the first in his opening three holes.
McLeod has been in stunning form of late and could win the Order of Merit on the PGA Tour of Australasia this week - earning a European Tour card in the process.
World Number 21 Marc Leishman was at eight under, a shot clear of Dimitrios Papadatos and Christopher Wood as Australians occupied the top five spots on the leaderboard.
Wood made an opening birdie to get within one of the lead but McLeod broke out of that group with an approach to tap-in range on the first and he moved into a share of top spot.
Smith parred his first hole and then made an excellent up-and-down from the sand at the second to stay at nine under.
Wood bogeyed the fourth to drop to seven under alongside Papadatos, who started his day with three pars.
Braden Becker carded a 67 to set the clubhouse target at six under, making two birdies and a bogey to turn in 35 before eagling the 12th and birdieing the 15th and 16th.
Fellow Australians David Bransdon, Matt Jager and Matthew Millar were on the course at six under alongside American 2017 champion Harold Varner III, who was the only non-Australian in the top ten.
