New South Welshman Jamie Arnold and New Zealander Gareth Paddison are tied for the lead at the halfway stage of the Victorian PGA Championship.

Paddison headed out early on Friday at the Heritage Golf and Country Club on the north-east edge of Melbourne to card a second-round four-under 68.

He was joined later by Arnold, whose 67 shot him to the top of the leaderboard at nine-under for the tournament.

The pair hold a one-shot advantage over a group of four players that includes overnight leader Mark Brown after the Kiwi signed for a 71 to go with his opening-round of 65.

He is joined at eight-under by Michael Choi (Vic), Kurt Barnes (NSW) and Rohan Blizard (NSW).

“I made a lot of really nice putts today,” said Arnold, who had seven birdies.

“Putting is one of my strengths but I usually drive the ball really well and hit a lot of greens.

“If I can putt better than average then there is no reason that I can’t shot a good score every day.”

A shot further back are Victorians Paul Sheehan, Steve Jones and amateur Ben Eccles.

Rounding out the top-10 are Luke Humphries (NSW), Michael Hendry (NZ), Chris Gaunt (Vic) and Alex Hawley (NSW).