Chalmers claims Australian Open lead

Two-time champion Greg Chalmers has claimed the outright clubhouse lead late in the second round of the Australian Open in Sydney.

Chalmers’ five-under-par 66 on Friday left him atop a jam-packed leaderboard at five under for the championship, one stroke in front of world No.1 Rory McIlroy and Adam Crawford, who both carded 69s.

In-form amateur Todd Sinnott and American Conrad Schindler, who still had holes to play at The Australian Golf Club, were also at four under.

Young American ace Jordan Spieth (72), newly-turned professional Geoff Drake (70) and Brett Rumford (69) were two shots behind at three under, while Adam Scott was one further adrift after compiling a flawless five-under 66.

All up, 16 players were within five shots of the lead, including former champion Robert Allenby at two under with Scott after a 69.

After a three-over-par 74 on Thursday left him in danger of missing the halfway cut, Scott bounced back in style to briefly hold the course record at the revamped layout.

The world No.3 collected an eagle and three birdies to revive his hopes of a second national championship after raising the Stonehaven Cup in 2009.

“We had a good morning for it so I had to take advantage just for the sake of getting myself back into the tournament,” Scott said.

“Yesterday, I got off to a bad start and, in the wind, it was tricky and I didn’t scramble when I had to early in the round and it was slipping away from me.

“Today, it didn’t start much better – I was scrambling – but I scrambled well and then, all of sudden, I made eagle at 14 and momentum is on your side.”

McIlroy had a rollercoaster round featuring an eagle, six birdies and six bogeys.

The defending champion only had five pars all day.

American Jamie Lovemark went one better than Scott and Chalmers to snatch the course record with a 65 that left him at even par for the tournament and well in the hunt heading into the weekend.

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