Australian Scott Hend took advantage of his soaring drives to shoot a five-under-par 67 and edge into the halfway lead at the Asian PGA’s Burma Open on Friday.

Overnight joint-leader Hend held a one-shot advantage over Thailand’s rising star Kiradech Aphibarnrat with a two-day total of 13-under-par 131 at the Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club.

Kiradech, who won his first Asian Tour title last year, shot a solid 66 while countryman Chinnarat Phadungsil (68) and Ben Fox (69) of the United States were a further shot back on 133 at the $300,000 event.

Jesper Kennegard of Sweden set a new course record with a sizzling 63 to tie in fifth place with Australians Marcus Both and Wade Ormsby plus Kodai Ichihara of Japan and Joon Lee of Korea.

Hend, who was averaging drives of 331 yards on Friday, got off to a strong start, making four birdies and one bogey in the opening five holes.

The highlight of his day came on the 10th hole when he sank a 15-feet chip-in birdie.

“I missed a couple of three footers but it is all positive going into the weekend,” the Australian said.

“The way to score around here is try and to give yourself a lot of 10 footers. The key to this golf course is to read the slopes on the green.”