Adam Scott has stormed to a share of the clubhouse lead with a brilliant second-round seven-under-par 65 at the Australian Open in Sydney.
Steaming after opening with a disappointing 73, Scott took his frustrations out on Royal Sydney on Friday, rattling in seven birdies and an eagle on the 513-metre par-5 seventh.
Veteran Rod Pampling continued his excellent form with a 66 to join Scott on top at six under for the championship.
Fresh from hitting a $1.5 million jackpot in Las Vegas with his first win in America in a decade, Pampling was less spectacular with five birdies but steadier than Scott, who blotched his colourful scorecard with two bogeys.
The cream certainly rose to the top on Friday, with fellow US PGA Tour stars Jhonattan Vegas and two-time Open champion Aaron Baddeley also making big moves.
Vegas's 66 vaulted him to equal third in the clubhouse at five under alongside first-round co-leaders Lucas Herbert and Curtis Luck, who had afternoon tee-offs.
Baddeley followed up his first-round 74 with a sizzling 66 of his own to climb to four under overall in his quest to lift the Stonehaven Cup for a third time - and second time at Royal Sydney, having reigned as a teenaged amateur in 1999.
Scott's morning-best 65 could have been even better if not for a slow start.
He missed successive six-foot birdie attempts on his first two holes, then compounded his woes with a bogey on the third to briefly slip back to two over.
But he was on his way after draining back-to-back 15-foot putts for birdies on his fourth and fifth holes.
Two-time champion Peter Senior created headlines of his own on Friday but for vastly different reasons.
The 57-year-old hobbled off the course with chronic hip pain six holes into his second round and immediately announced his retirement from golf.
"It's just horrendous," Senior said.
"I can't hit a golf shot out there. It's no good me being out there annoying the other guys because they're playing pretty well so this is it for me. I'm not playing any more golf."