Playing in the morning groups on Friday, Dobbelaar backed up a round of five-under 67 on day one with a score of six-under 66 to move to 11-under and the outright lead.

Yeo, who went within a whisker of Ryan Fox’s course record on Thursday, added two early birdies to his overnight score of nine-under 63 to join Dobbelaar at 11-under.

After starting on the back nine, Yeo improved his score by three strokes from the day prior at the par-5 17th to move one clear at 12-under only to come home with two birdies and three bogeys to sit level with Dobbelaar at the halfway mark.

They have a three-shot advantage over Aussie trio Gavin Fairfax (68), Matias Sanchez (70) and Jarryd Felton (71) and Japan’s Ren Yonezawa (69) with Matthew Griffin (66), Justin Warren (67), Will Florimo (70) and Jordan Loof (71) in a share of seventh at seven-under.

Having never made a cut in nine previous starts on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia it is uncharted waters for Yeo as Dobbelaar seeks to feel the competitive heat of professional golf once again.

Shortly after turning professional in November 2021 Dobbelaar spent a condensed Australian summer contending seemingly every week.

It has been 11 months since the most recent of his top-10 finishes at the WA PGA Championship last April. He has been trying to recreate those competitive instincts in recent weeks and on the back of a tie for 30th at last week’s New Zealand Open feels much more like the young player who threatened to take the tour by storm.

“When you’re in a bit of a situation, you have more reason to focus,” Dobbelaar said of his lofty position on the leaderboard.

“That definitely engages me a bit more but I’ve been trying to be like that from the start of events lately and been playing a bit more solid.

“Just keep that engagement from the start and hit as many good shots as possible.

“The last few weeks I’ve definitely found a bit of momentum, not so much in my game, more so mindset-wise.

“It’s been an interesting start to my career but I’m just playing the way I’ve always felt I can play.”

Yeo might have surprised even himself with how he responded to a night sleeping on the lead.

Playing his golf out of North Shore Golf Club just 30 minutes from Gulf Harbour, Yeo is equally excited to have put himself in such a position through two rounds.

“I’m really happy with this week, playing the weekend in the champion group,” said Yeo, the 2018 New Zealand Under-19 champion.

“I think I’ll just keep playing my style. Just play my golf and not thinking about making many birdies.”

Gusty winds and intermittent rain made conditions challenging for players throughout the day as raingear came and went seemingly by the hole.

Dobbelaar made steady progress in the rain early before the emergence of sunshine also brought about a run of birdies.

He hit 7-iron from 165 metres to set up birdie at the par-4 16th and then added a second at the par-5 17th that taps out at 568 metres and was playing into the wind.

“The birdie I made on 16 was a really good one,” Dobbelaar added.

“It’s a tough hole and when it plays into the wind it can be a bit of a beast.

“It was nice to make birdie there and the par-5 17th just played as a three-shotter. Into the wind it’s a bit of a beast as well but hit a couple of nice shots and rolled one in.”

A total of 58 players advance to the weekend rounds including the father-son pairing of David and Charlie Smail.

Charlie shot three-under 69 to finish two rounds at even par, his father one stroke back and just inside the cut-line in what will be his final start on the PGA Tour of Australasia.

“It’s quite amazing really, 30 years of playing this tour, I’ve had a lot of good experiences and a lot of fun,” said Smail, who won the NZ Open and Canon Challenge in consecutive weeks in 2001.

“It really is a great way to start to learn to play four-round tournament golf and then perhaps move on to Europe, America or somewhere in Asia.”

There are Order of Merit implications further down the leaderboard with Vic Open winner MIchael Hendry in a tie for 14th at five-under and Vic PGA champion Andrew Martin in a tie for 22nd one stroke further back.

Round 3 will commence at 9am local time on Saturday with Dobbelaar, Yeo and Sanchez to tee off in the final group at 10.50am NZ time.