With countryman Brad Kennedy (67) just two strokes back it was Jones’ thunderous finish to a round of seven-under 63 that elevated him to the top of the leaderboard alongside with Keita Nakajima at 10-under, one clear of overnight leader Rikuya Hoshino and two shots ahead of Kennedy and American Chan Kim.

Rejuvenated from a three-week break back home, the 47-year-old turned in 34 by overcoming a bogey on the third hole with a pair of birdies on the sixth and ninth.

Jones, who lost in a playoff to Jarryd Felton at TPS Sydney in March, surprised even himself with his scintillating finish that sparked hopes of adding a title number 16, three years after he lifted his last at the Token Homemate Cup.

After making just one cut in his past eight starts, Jones decided to return to Australia to recharge. And it has certainly done him a whole world of good.

“The finish was incredible. It’s funny because my year has been horrible. My game has been very poor,” said Jones, whose best result this year was a tie for 21st at the BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup.

“I went back to Australia for three weeks to see my old coach and talked to some professionals that have helped me along the way. It has changed my thoughts, the way I think.

“Today I started nervously and played the first four holes rather poorly. It was very scrappy, got up and down from a long way on two, hit it in the water on three.

“But once I birdied the sixth, that calmed me down a little bit. From there, I played really, really well. The last six holes were pretty impressive.

“I wasn’t expecting that because in my head I was counting down the holes just to make the cut. I haven’t made many cuts this year.

“I just kept hitting really good shots. One thing I did today that I have not done all year is that all my good shots were complemented with good putting.

“It’s nice to see some putts going in.

“There are still 36 holes to go and that’s still a long way to go. I’ll just try to stay patient and keep doing what I’m doing.”

Kim traded four birdies against a lone bogey to stay within striking distance of his eighth JGTO title while Kennedy also had the same scorecard to keep himself firmly in contention for his first victory in four years and fourth overall.

After a six-under 64 on day one Dylan Perry dropped to a tie for 36th with a round of three-over 73, Matthew Griffin comfortably inside the cut-line with a second consecutive round of two-under 68.