The leader by two strokes after Round 1, Pampling followed up his 3-under 68 with a 1-over 72, German legend Bernhard Langer moving one clear with a 3-under 68 of his own, just three shots short of playing to his age.

South African Retief Goosen (71) and Americans Jerry Kelly (70) and Dicky Pride (69) are tied for third at 1-under par, Steve Stricker (70) and Ernie Els (71) lurking one stroke further back at even par.

It was largely a difficult day for the Aussie contingent with Richard Green falling from a tie for fifth to a tie for 59th with a round of 9-over 80, Mark Hensby (76) the only other Aussie to advance to the third round. Green and Hensby are paired together for Round 3.

Pampling and Langer will tee off in the final group at 3.49am AEST Sunday morning with the former chasing a major breakthrough as the latter seeks his 12th.

Without a top-10 finish in a senior major since The Tradition in May 2022, Pampling was pleased with how he handled his position as front-runner after day one, even if the putts didn’t drop the way they did in Round 1.

“I hadn’t been in a situation like this in a major for a while,” admitted Pampling, who has three top-five finishes in senior majors to his name.

“I’ve had a lot of good events, but not the lead. To handle the situation, I think I played pretty solid out there.

“Just had a few breaks here and there. The putter didn’t cooperate as well as it did yesterday.

“My speed was just a bit off. I’d played mostly in the morning so I was just coming up a bit short.

“I’ll address that now and be ready to go tomorrow.”

The winner two years ago, Cam Davis has also played his way into contention at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.

Three birdies and an eagle to start the back nine vaulted Davis (65) into a share of ninth at 10-under par, just three shots back of the lead held by American Taylor Moore (67) and Canadian Taylor Pendrith (64).

Cameron Smith is tied for fourth and two shots off the lead at the LIV Golf Valderrama event in Spain while Anthony Quayle is the best placed Australian at the start of the third round of the Sega Sammy Cup in Japan, tied for 20th and six shots back.