After sitting one stroke behind overnight leader Josh Clarke, the Coffs Harbour-based professional negotiated a tricky afternoon breeze and cooling conditions at Willunga to shoot a 4-under-par 66 to take his 36-hole total to 10-under 130.

Four dropped shots in three holes during his front nine was bad news for Sydneysider Clarke, but he bounced back late in the day and was content with his 68.

A shot further back are rookie Perth pro Josh Greer (68-64) and Jay Mackenzie (69-63), who lives just a little further up the coastline from good friend Campbell at Lennox Head.

Completing a Northern New South Wales trio in contention for the inaugural Webex Players Series SA title, is the 2016 Hong Kong Open champion, Sam Brazel from Lismore, who turned in a second-round of 65 to jump to fifth alone at -7.

With two top-10s in the first four events of the 2023/24 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season and a regular winner in this year’s adidas PGA Pro-Am Series, Campbell was among the favourites coming into this week.

His second round featured six birdies, including two in his final three holes to take the outright lead, with the only slip-up coming with a double-bogey on the par-4 10^th hole.

A lifelong Sydney Northern Beaches resident until making the move to Coffs Harbour just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Campbell knows clinching his first Tour title still requires plenty of work over the weekend, but the way he handled the most testing conditions of the week so far in the McLaren Valley was a good sign.

“It definitely was a little bit tougher today,” Campbell said. “The breeze was up which was making the harder holes harder and some of the easier holes a little bit easier.

“I’m very pleased to go out there and back up yesterday’s score with another nice one today.

“I had a bit of a whoopsie on 10 and it was nice to claw that back.”

Clarke’s run of bogey, double-bogey, bogey from the fifth to seventh holes threatened to undo his great work from Thursday, but he gathered six birdies in his last 11 holes to fix the damage.

“Started fast, finished fast. Overall I’m content with where I’m at,” he said.

A former WA PGA champion, Mackenzie is known as one of the more laidback players on Tour.

He matched the Willunga course record with a morning 7-under 63, largely thanks to a run of seven birdies in nine holes midway through his round, to move to 8-under for the tournament.

“I didn’t know that was the course record so that’s cool,” the 24-year-old said.

“I made a lot of putts in the middle of the round which set it up.

“It’s a pretty short course here. That sort of helps me because I don’t hit the ball that far.”

Mackenzie had company at the top of the leaderboard at lunchtime when Greer, in just his third event as a professional, birdied the par-4 18^th thanks to a perfectly struck 60-degree wedge to around a metre to complete a 6-under 64.

The 22-year-old earned his Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia card in March when he finished in a tie for eighth at the Qualifying School at Moonah Links and has made a promising start to his pro career.

“I probably had a few more nerves at the first (event as a professional). Being at my home course, you’re expected to do well,” said Greer, who ended up in a tie for 11^th at his pro debut in the WA Open at Joondalup.

“It probably taught me that you don’t have to hit it good to score good. I actually played pretty terrible but scored okay.”

Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit leader Lachlan Barker (SA) is safely into the weekend after rounds of 69-68 to sit seven shots from the lead at 3-under, two behind the only woman to make the halfway cut, Queenslander Robyn Choi, who climbed inside the top 10 with a 2-under 68.

Jack Wright (Qld) produced the first hole-in-one at a Tour event at Willunga, using a pitching wedge to ace the 122m par-three 16th, while Zach Maxwell (Qld) added his name to the equal course record holders with a 63 that followed an opening 75.

South Australia’s first mixed gender professional tournament will add in two extra events at the weekend, with All-Abilities players and elite juniors joining the field.

The leading group will tee off at 1.25pm (SA time).

The only place to see the final two rounds of Webex Players Series South Australia is on Fox Sports through either Foxtel or Kayo Sports.

Image: Coffs Harbour’s Andrew Campbell tees off during round two of Webex Players Series South Australia hosted by Greg Blewett