Brett Rumford earned huge cheers from his home town crowdtoday on the 18^th as he finished his round tied for the lead at theISPS HANDA Perth International.

Firing 7-under 65, Rumford reeled off eight birdies and a lone bogey but still feels like a lower round is out there for him.

"I’m just feeling as though there’s some momentum that’s just lacking and there’s a few shots here and there that’s really stopping it from being a spectacular round of golf," said Rumford.

"It just feels as though that I’ve got so much more to give in terms of my performance from a scoring perspective, anyway."

"Who knows, we’ll just try and attain one of those rounds, hopefully soon."

Rumford has played every Perth International since its inaugural staging in 2012 but today’s round is his best in front of a home crowd.

"Scoring‑wise, I think that was probably up there with one of the best," added Rumford.

"It’s just great to be back here playing.  Obviously I’ve got my girls here, family and friends, which is great." 

"I’ve got a lot of cycling buddies out here walking the golf course, as well, so it’s just great to feed off their energy."

"They just want to see me do well, and I want to do well, as well."

Standing in his way is a star studded leaderboard, he currently holds the top position alongside American star Peter Uihlein who shot 4-under 68 this morning.

"I didn’t really feel like I slept much.  I felt like I just came out here and talked to y’all," said Uihlein following his round which he closed with back-to-back birdies.

"It’s one of those things, you wake up hoping in the morning it’s going to be calmer, but like we knew the forecast was going to be windy this morning, I was prepared for it."

"I always like playing late/early, because you feel like you’re just going, especially if you play well, you’re still going." 

"You don’t really feel like anything changes.  You’re not waiting around."

Lurking just a shot behind the leading duo is the highest ranked player in the field; Louis Oosthuizen demonstrated his class firing 8-under 65.

"I just did what I did yesterday.  Just same clubs, putting myself in positions, and you know, a few occasions, I just hit it a bit closer," said Oosthuizen.

"My birdie opportunities were a bit closer.  But I read the greens well and put nicely."

 Despite not having seen the course before he stood on the tee yesterday, Rhein Gibson continues to play solid golf to be 9-under the card after two rounds.

"I showed up, got into Sydney Wednesday morning, got here lunchtime Wednesday.  I wasn’t in the pro‑am, so I didn’t even see the first tee or 10th tee until Thursday lunchtime."

"I’ve played the course before.  Had I not played the course, I probably would have walked it Wednesday afternoon to get a feel for it.  But because I’ve played it before and had some good memories, I just didn’t think it was that big of a deal."

Sitting a shot further back is another West Australian, Jason Scrivener, who is enjoying strong crowd support and utilising his local knowledge. He is 8-under the card courtesy of a bogey free 5-under today.

"I love playing here. I really enjoy the challenge and I’m looking forward to the weekend," said Scrivener.

"I feel so comfortable out here. I like to think of it as an advantage."

"It’s nice to have a bit of a support crew."

Frenchman Alexander Levy sits outright 6^th on 7-under the card with Singaporean Mardan Mamat outright 7^th on 6-under the card.

A group of 10 players are all tied 8^th on 5-under the card after two rounds; Todd Sinnott (AUS), Magnus Carlsson (SWE), David Bransdon (AUS), Adilson Da Silva (BRZ), Richard Lee (CAN), Romain Wattel (FRA), Scott Arnold (AUS), Shiv Kapur (IND) and Jeunhung Wang (KOR)

The second round cut was made at even par with 74 players making the weekend rounds.

The third round of the ISPS HANDA Perth International will tee off at 7.16am with the lead group of Brett Rumford and Peter Uihlein teeing off at 1pm.