Hopewell’s course record 10-under 62 on Friday seemingly gave the 21-year-old a stranglehold on the tournament at Spalding Park Golf Club in Geraldton.

He began Round 2 with a five-stroke lead but turned in 1-over par to open the door to the chasing pack.

Leading that charge was Peake, following on from his 5-under 67 in Round 1 with an equal best Round 2 score of 4-under 68 that had eagles, triple bogeys and everything in between.

Knocking on the door of a win throughout the WA Swing of the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series, Peake started his round with back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11. A dropped shot at 14 was offset by a birdie at 16, picking up another shot on 18 to make the turn in 3-under.

He moved to 5-under for the day with an eagle at the par-5 first before a triple bogey at the 292-metre par-4 fifth temporarily quelled his quest to rein in Hopewell.

Peake closed out his round with birdies at eight and nine to ensure Hopewell is well within reach when the pair tee off on Sunday.

Like Peake, Hopewell started his round from the 10th tee in the afternoon wave and was 1-over when he reached the first tee.

The 2020 WA Open champion dropped another shot at the par-4 third to fall to 2-over on his round, launching a late fightback with birdies at five, eight and nine for a round of 1-under 71.

His 36-hole total of 11-under gives him a two-stroke buffer from Peake with Ben Ferguson (69) and Andrew Crabb in a tie for third at 6-under par.

The third and final round commences Sunday morning from 8am local time, with the leaders teeing off at 10am.

Round 2 scores