Queenslander Stephenson had six birdies, an eagle at the short par-4 eighth hole and a lone bogey in his 7-under round, having started the day in a tie for the lead with Canadian Adam Migur.

Through 36 holes he is 9-under overall and four shots clear of the Melbourne-based Migur at 5-under.

Queenslander Joshua Holbrook also shot a 66 today and leapt into a tie for third at 4-under with Victorian Joel Mitchell (68 today) in the 72-hole event.

Stephenson, 32, played both the WA PGA and the WA Open on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia this month and his missed cut at Mandurah in the Open meant that he was able to race back to Queensland to compete this week.

“A couple of dramas but I think yeah, maybe a blessing and a curse in hindsight,” he said of his performance in WA. “But yeah, I’ve had a good two weeks been playing pretty solid, pretty consistent. It was good to be back out there on the main tour playing against world-class players really and skills are great for the last two weeks so I feel like that’s made me sort of look at where I need to get to and kind where I’m at now. But it’s been nice come back with the associates being in the mix again, top of leaderboard.”

The quality of players on the main tour has inspired him to get better. ”I mean you see the scores and you realise the quality of play out there, so it is just about getting to that next level. Elvis Smylie shooting 20 or 21 under at Mandurah and Jack Buchanan shooting 20 under the week before. So it is mid-60s every round for four days if you’re going to compete and shooting 2-under or 1-under doesn’t really get it done.”

PHOTO: Damon Stephenson on his way to a 66 today.

Leaderboard