Rawson, a 34-year-old Kiwi who moved to Adelaide in his teens, roared around the Legends course at Moonah today in 9-under-par 63 to seize the outright lead in the $250,000 championship which is part of the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

The winner of this event in 2019 at nearby Cape Schanck resort, the New Zealander has put himself in position to reprise that maiden Tour victory from three years ago.

He began the week with a double bogey at his first hole on the Open course on Thursday, but he scrapped out an even-par 72 in the first round and a day on, he is the outright leader at 9-under-par. Rawson’s buffer is a shot from South Australian lefty Adam Bland (66 today), with a group at 7-under including Queenslanders Chris Wood and Ryley Martin and Victorians Zach Murray and Marcus Fraser.

Rawson could have gone lower today on the Legends. With a putt of four metres for a 62 at the par-4 18th green, his birdie attempt lipped out horribly. But his luck was not all bad; at the par-4 13th hole he holed out with a wedge for eagle, and he did roll in seven birdies as well. With playing partner Paul Sarant, he also leads the teams event after a best-ball 59 today.

“It must be where I’m staying,” said Rawson afterward. “(Fellow-PGA Professional) DJ Loypur has a house on the first at the Legends course with a few other players. I’ve stayed there the last three or four years with the boys. It’s a nice relaxing atmosphere, we love it down here. Nice tight lies, when the conditions get tricky I seem to go OK. It’s pleasing.”

Rawson is strictly part-time nowadays, spending more time monitoring stock prices in his day job at Taylor Collison financial services in the Adelaide CBD.

“I get to play once a week, practise one-and-a-half or two hours a week if I’m lucky, when my son’s asleep on a Sunday, and this is just a privilege to be here and playing OK,” he said. “I’ve been hitting it OK. It was more about whether I could get the putter going, and that’s been patchy. But once you get in that mode, and you’re playing OK, all the good feelings come back, and you get on auto-pilot.”

Rawson’s life story is interesting. He moved to Adelaide from Auckland as a teen because he had taken a liking to Australian football, and he had dreams of playing in the AFL. But having played a bit in the South Australian National Football League with South Adelaide, he gave up on football and returned to golf.

He’d always been into the sport, being a friend and contemporary of Ryan Fox, who happens to be one of the hottest players in the world in 2022. The pair remain in touch.  “We’re going over to the Masters to watch him (Fox) play,” said Rawson. “There are eight of us going, all the boys who grew up together playing.”

Bland, 40, shot a 66 on the Legends to frank his recent improved form on the Japan Tour, where he has nevertheless lost his playing status after seven years. He intends teeing it up at Japan tour school but if he does not get through, it will be back to his wife and family in Adelaide and a possible switch to coaching.

“Originally I was going to stop playing,” he said. “I’ve got three kids (aged from four to 12) and I want to be home and enjoy the time with them a bit more. I’m just sick of the other stuff that’s in golf, the travel and being away from home.”

Fraser’s presence on the leaderboard should not be a surprise since he is back playing more after a stint on the staff at Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club outside Melbourne. The Rio De Janeiro Olympian recently resigned from that club role to return to touring golf, with his sights on the Asian Tour, where he has a career-prizemoney exemption and where the purses are increasing. His 67 on the tougher Open course was one of the rounds of the day.

Martin, from Noosa Springs, shot a 67 today to move into contention in a week that has gone his way. On Thursday, his tee shot on a par-4 ended up on the back of a blue-tongued lizard, requiring a ruling and resulting in a free drop, a great iron shot and a birdie. “I’ve never seen that before,” he said.

A winner of the world junior in 2015, he knows that a sterner test is coming as the players switch to the Open course for the final two rounds. “Playing on the Open course, anything can happen. The golf course can get you at any time so you have to be patient and hole birdie putts when you can.”

This weekend’s third and fourth rounds will be broadcast live from 2.30pm Saturday and from 12.30pm Sunday on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.

Click here for the leaderboard.