Defending champion Phoenix Campbell added a 4-under 68 to his 6-under round on Thursday to take the 36-hole lead outright at 10-under, one-stroke clear of 19-year-old Gold Coast amateur Billy Dowling (69).

New South Wales amateur Declan O’Donovan (67) matched the equal best score of the day to climb into third position at 7-under, Smith two strokes further back at 5-under after a day in which he had to play from penalty areas on three separate occasions.

Smith’s shoes had to come off for his second shot at the par-3 11th but a late birdie at the par-5 17th dragged him back to level par for his round.

He will have to chase down Campbell and Dowling over the weekend, particularly excited at the prospect of potentially being paired with Dowling, a Cameron Smith Scholarship winner two years ago, in the final round.

While conscious of the threat posed by Smith, 23-year-old Campbell insists he won’t be looking backwards as he seeks to become the first back-to-back winner since Lucas Parsons in 1997-1998.

“I can’t really worry about what everyone else is doing,” said Campbell, who became the first amateur to win the Queensland PGA in its 92-year history 12 months ago.

“I’ve got to just stick to my game. That’s all I can control.

“I didn’t play quite as well as I did yesterday. I missed a couple of greens and made some really good up-and-downs, which kind of kept me in it.

“It wasn’t my best stuff, but I hung in there all day.”

Proud big brother vibes 🥹

Cam Smith on his 2022 scholarship recipient, Billy Dowling, who leads the #QldPGA. pic.twitter.com/Icjr5aZmpK

— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) November 1, 2024

Tied for 15th a year ago, Dowling has also shown no signs of being overawed by the occasion.

Birdies at 14 and 18 were the highlights of Dowling’s 3-under round as he applies a sound strategy that belies his youthfulness.

“For me, you don’t need to try and force birdies,” said Dowling, who shot 59 at his home course of Surfers Paradise Golf Club in March last year.

“If you can just minimise the bogeys, then birdies will come.

“That’s just how I go about it. Other people might be different and then you see what happens at the end of the day.”

Despite more favourable conditions than the afternoon wave experienced in Round 1, Smith struggled to generate momentum early in his round on Friday.

He hit his tee shot at the par-5 fifth into the water on his way to bogey but got it back with a superb tee shot that danced around the hole at the par-3 eighth.

Smith’s drive at the par-4 ninth came to rest in bark left of the fairway as he made a second bogey but was back to square soon after with birdie on 10.

A bogey on 11 was countered with a birdie at 12, his birdie putt on 13 lipped out on the left edge and his par putt on 14 caught the right edge and also failed to fall.

A fourth birdie of the day on 17 was enough to get back to 5-under and in the second-last group on Saturday.

“It probably wasn’t as bad as what it looked,” said Smith. “It actually felt pretty good.

“It just seems like there’s a lot of birdie chances out there if you take driver. It’s what I did yesterday and kind of worked out and today not so much.

“The putter was a little bit cold. Hit a lot of lips but still feel like I played some pretty solid golf.

“Just wasn’t my day kind of thing.”

O’Donovan emerged as the real surprise packet in Round 2, the Avondale Golf Club member playing his final 12 holes in 6-under to play his way into the final group.

Winner of the NSW Amateur earlier this year, O’Donovan said he drew on Smith’s slow start on Thursday to stage a fightback of his own.

“Yesterday Cam was 1-over through six and finished 5-under,” said O’Donovan.

“I was 1-over through six and thinking, If Cam can do it, hopefully I can do it, too.

“I definitely got it going. Played some of my best golf today.”

Play was suspended for just over 80 minutes late on Friday due to an electrical storm, hail the size of golf balls lashing the course. The round resumed at 5:15pm AEST and was completed just after 6pm.

Round 3 will begin at 8:22am AEST on Saturday with the final group of Campbell, Dowling and O’Donovan to tee off at 11:45am.

The final two rounds will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo on both Saturday and Sunday from 11:30am-4:30pm AEST.