Cam Smith has game face on but allows a chuckle

Some light-hearted ribbing from a few old schoolmates proved to be Cam Smith’s biggest obstacle on Friday as he tore up Royal Queensland to zoom into Australian PGA favouritism.

Ca Smith lines up a putt at Royal Queensland. Picture: Getty Images.

Some light-hearted ribbing from a few old schoolmates proved to be Cameron Smith’s biggest obstacle on Friday as he tore up Royal Queensland to zoom into Australian PGA favouritism.

While playing partners Adam Scott (72) and Ryan Fox (74) struggled in the marquee group, Smith shot 65 to move to nine-under and just a stroke behind tournament leader Jason Scrivener, who added a 67 to his first-round 65.

Kiwi star Fox missed the cut, while Scott, who sits at four-under, has some weekend work ahead if he wants to lift the Kirkwood Cup for a third time.

“I’m going to have to really shoot the lights out on the weekend and play good, which I know I can,” Scott said,

Smith, who birdied the 18th to ensure he would be in today’s final group with Scrivener, can also “play good” and will be hard to stop as he bids for a third Australian PGA title. “I knew that putt (on the 18th) would probably get me into the final group, so that’s a good one,” the British Open champion said.

“I love playing in those final groups.”

Friday could have been even better for Smith had he not three-putted and bogeyed the 17th, the “party hole,” where some of his old school friends were situated.

“They were yelling at me on 17 so that’s why I was having a little bit of a chuckle to myself,” he said.

“I’m sure they were giving me s--t about missing that second putt as well ... (but) it was really good energy out there.

“Golf should be more like that. That’s what we need.”

While Smith will dominate the weekend headlines, Scrivener can’t be discounted as he seeks to end a five-year drought.

The 33-year-old Perth-raised player, whose only professional win was the November 2017 NSW Open, warned his rivals there was weekend improvement in him.

“(Thursday) I was pretty stress-free and I got the ball from tee to green really well,” Scrivener said.

“Today it was a little scrappier. I got away with a few things and scrapped well.

“I’ll just do what I’ve done the last two days. You’ve got to be pretty patient out there; pick your places to be aggressive and then other times you’ve got to be pretty conservative.

“I’ll stick to the same plan.”

Two players – Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura (68, 66) and Victoria’s Cameron John (69, 65) – are two shots adrift at eight-under.

Five players – including Polish star Adrian Meronk, who shot a second-round 67 to go with his 68 on Thursday – are well-placed at seven-under heading into the weekend.

Meanwhile, Jed Morgan’s tournament PGA defence has come to an end after he missed the cut with a two-round, two-over total of 144.

Lucas Herbert also won’t play on the weekend after he withdrew during the second round with a back injury.

It’s not expected that the injury will rule him out of next week’s Australian Open in Melbourne.