The Sydneysider, a semifinalist in 2015 and the first round stroke play leader from a year ago, opened Wednesday's second round with a stunning chip-in eagle on the first at Yarra Yarra and then hung on for a wild 69 on a day of high winds. The final day of stroke play qualifying had a little bit of everything from difficult scoring conditions to a crazy playoff to determine the final 64 to reach the beginning of match play on Thursday.

His 4-under total after two rounds was enough to keep Perth’s Min Woo Lee at bay by a stroke, with one of the overnight leaders, Kiwi Ryan Chisnall, joining Central Coast's Kieren Jones in a share of third one stroke further back.

Lee held or shared for much of his second round and after reaching 4-under through 12 holes he sat at 6-under overall, but three late bogeys cost him a shot at being medallist and left him at 3-under.

Jones backed up his 69 at Yarra Yarra yesterday with another 1-under total (71) at nearby Kingswood to finish 2-under alongside Chisnall who battled the worst of the winds and fought hard for a plucky 73.

However, most of the drama fell late in the evening when 20 men set out for 18 spots in a playoff among those who finished at 7-over.

As five groups of four played the 17th hole, it wasn’t until the fourth group that a score worse than a bogey was recorded on the par-four.

But in quick succession, Japan’s Gaku Tsukamoto and Chris Crabtree took double, as his fellow Queenslander Lawry Flynn picked up when his putt for six slid by.