Battling injury, fatigue, flatness and a touch of frost, Jason Day narrowly avoided an early exit from the Australian Open.

Day, who last week took out the individual World Cup of Golf title, admitted a lacklustre showing which has left him even par after two rounds at Royal Sydney was in part a result of his terrific victory.

Also working against the 26-year-old was the rain and cold winds that lashed Sydney on Friday, causing a back complaint to flare up.

When he bogeyed the tricky 11th, Day went one-over for the tournament and was right on the cut line.

It wasn’t until he sunk a birdie putt on 13, his only birdie for the day, that he was able to relax and put thoughts of missing the cut at the back of his mind.

“I think there’s maybe a little bit of flatness,” Day said.

“It was a little bit of a struggle.

“I just didn’t have the best stuff out there and, with how the conditions are, if you don’t come in sharp you’re just not going to shoot a good score.

“I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me for the next two days.”

The cold weather certainly didn’t sit well with the Queenslander.

“My body doesn’t work very well when it gets to a certain temperature,” he said.

“I like warm weather. The hot weather normally keeps the oil going through my body.”

Day said the ailment was limiting the length of his drives, which naturally has a flow-on effect to the rest of his game.

“It is just a little sore, a little tight,” he said.

“I think there’s a little bit of general fatigue, but I’m not trying to make any excuses out there.

“I’m just trying to go out there and play better.

“I’m not hitting it hard. I’m not hitting it as far as I would normally.

“I just can’t really go at it hard, because it will hurt.

“I haven’t been hitting it as far this week as I was last week.”