Starting the day at 6-under for the tournament, John elevated himself all the way into a tie for third with Jye Pickin at 17-under.

The final grouping of McLeod and Cholcheva Wongras, who were tied at the top to start the day, have separated themselves by one shot, with Wongras in solo second at 18-under.

Queenslander Blake Proverbs sits in solo fifth at 16-under after another stunning round of 63, playing his last 36-holes in 17-under after a 72 to open his Murray River account.

Former Tour winners Michael Hendry and Jason Norris are a further shot back at 15-under, with another Kiwi Tyler Hodge at 14-under, and the only amateur to make the cut Lion Higo the next best woman at 13-under alongside three others.

Wasting no time, John got his third round off to the perfect start with an eagle, the reigning National Tournament champion saying he felt on right from the start.

“The first tee shot was pretty good, and I was just like, ‘oh, that felt good’,” John said with a smile.

 “The only average shot I hit all day was on the eighth hole. These rounds don’t happen often, and you’ve got to capitalise when you play like that.”

And capitalise he did, making a birdie two on the third, before a second eagle on the par-5 sixth, then further birdies at seven and eight had John make the turn in 7-under.

“When I was, I think I was seven through eight, and the boys were laughing, they were like, ‘you’re a million under already!’.

“To be honest, the last two days I’ve done the exact same thing, I just kind of rolled the putts by the edge.

“I hit a few irons off the tees and normally I’m quite aggressive but stuck to the plan and it was nice to get rewarded for that.”

With a sub-60 score on his mind, John kept the foot down and proceeded to make four more birdies on his next eight holes, meaning he needed one more on 18 for the magical 59.

Finding the right edge of the green, a downhill 12-foot slider awaited John, as the healthy crowd from the hospitality tent behind the green watched on in anticipation.

“I’ve never been more nervous on a Saturday,” he said.

The putt slid by low, and although a 59 would have been sweet, John is just happy to have got himself back into contention.

This is the third time John has set a course record in a Tour event, previously in Kalgoorlie at the WA PGA, and on the Legends Course at Moonah Links in the Vic PGA.

McLeod shot a tidy 5-under 66 on Saturday, and apart from a untidy three-putt on the last, he could not have asked for much more as the mercury touched 40 late in the afternoon.

“When it got real still on some of those tee blocks here, it was really hot, but pretty good conditions to play if it was just a few degrees cooler,” said McLeod, pleased to be in an air-conditioned room.

“Did a pretty good job on the back nine I thought from holes 10 to 15 especially, and then sort of just my speed in the last few holes wasn’t great, but holed a couple of nice ones too.

“Unfortunately missed the last one at the end, but yeah, games feeling good.”

Knowing it’s likely someone could have a round similar to John’s tomorrow, McLeod says the gameplan is to stay aggressive and continue giving himself as many chances to make birdie as possible.

“It’ll be a tough test tomorrow, but I think that’s the mindset.”

While accustomed to playing in extreme heat, the 40-degrees Wongras played through today is unlike the humid conditions of Thailand.

“It was nice playing out there, in the heat it was just so crazy,” Wongras said.

“It was just hot and dry, so back home, it’s hot and humid, so it’s a bit different.

“It’s really hard to play golf out there.”

With an eagle on ten, and a birdie on 11, it looked as if Wongras may make a late charge and claim the lead for herself, however a bogey and six pars coming in proved otherwise.

“What I did today was just enjoy the moment, have fun, talk to Jake (McLeod). He was a nice guy to play with, it was a pretty nice round,” said Wongras.

“Tomorrow I’m going to go out and have another round of golf and then just stick to the game plan and then try to birdie as much as I can.”

Victorian Tom Ryan leads the All Abilities at 10-over after round one, while another Victorian in Olive Spitty leads the juniors at 1-under.

By firing a second-straight 7-under 64, Wongras was able to hang on to her lofty leaderboard position, while McLeod’s 8-under was a two-shot improvement on his day one round, the former Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner relishing the hot conditions.

The two leaders are quite the pair. Wongras, a 17-year-old who is just establishing herself very early in her career, and 30-year-old McLeod who is working hard to get back to his best and has been prominent in all three Tour events so far in 2025.

South Australian veteran Jason Norris is just one back at 13-under after an 8-under 63 of his own today. After nine consecutive pars to begin his Murray River campaign yesterday, Norris has played his last 27-holes in 13-under, including going out in 6-under today.

At 52, Norris is 35 years older than his teenage challenger Wongras, meaning the top three players on the leaderboard span over three generations.

Anthony Quayle, Jye Pickin and Bray Watt are all a further two shots back at 11-under, Quayle in prime position to get after the win he desires over the weekend.

After a top-five finish in Perth and grabbing a share of 11th after being an early leader last week at Rosebud, McLeod’s consistent play has continued on the Murray.

“Played nicely today,” said McLeod. “We had really good conditions … there’s no wind and it’s nice and warm, so just how I like to play golf.”

McLeod’s back nine was electric today, starting with three straight birdies from 10 through 12, before making two more in a row to finish his day.

“If you get a good tee shot away on both of them, they’re big scoring chances,” he said of the closing two holes.

“I hit a decent drive up 17, but hit my wedge to about 18 feet and holed a nice putt there.

 “Then on the last I hit a 9-iron to about four feet. That was a nice way to finish.”

Since his breakout year in 2018 which saw him top the Order of Merit, McLeod has struggled to return to the winner’s circle despite a few close calls.

“It’s nice to be in contention again on the weekend for the third tournament in a row now,” he said.

“I’ve learned a fair bit over the last couple of tournaments as well, so hopefully I can capitalise on that and do a better job.”

While Wongras, who turned pro at just 15, managed to match her first round 64, today she did it with no bogeys on the card, but said the day wasn’t completely stress-free.

“I think I made two or three big saves,” she said. “I’m quite happy that I didn’t drop any shots today though.

“The course was just like yesterday, everything was so good and the greens were super smooth.

“The people here are so nice, the environment, the tournament here is just super nice. I’m so happy to be here.”

Wongras won twice on her home Thai LPGA Tour in 2024, and also had a solid week at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open finishing tied-24th.

Having also secured playing rights on the TLPGA in Taiwan for the upcoming season by way of winning the qualifying tournament,  Wongras will split her time in a number of countries, but said winning on the WPGA Tour of Australasia is up there on her goals.

“I’m quite happy about my round, so tomorrow just stick to the game plan and try not to think too far ahead,” she said.

Two of the biggest movers on Friday were Malaysia’s Ashley Lau, whose bogey-free 63 lifted the Vic Open champion to T10, and Queenslander Blake Proverbs, who after a 1-over 72 yesterday, bounced back with a round-of-the-day 9-under 62, moving him from a tie from 91st to T14.

The cut was made at 4-under, with 58 players making it through to the weekend.

Out early, Hendry and Peake both got off to incredibly hot starts in the calm morning conditions, and the 64s they eventually signed for could have remarkably both been lower.
 
On the other side of the draw, Wongras’ 64 in the afternoon was a masterful display of precision, the Thai 17-year-old making nine birdies on her opening round.
 
There was no shortage of low scoring today, with 31 players 4-under or better and the end of play. Four players are tied fourth at 6-under, with Brad Kennedy, Jake McLeod, Todd Sinnott and Anthony Quayle all carding 65.
 
While an even larger cluster are tied eighth at 5-under, including WPGA Tour of Australasia trio Justice Bosio, Jess Whitting and Belinda Ji.

Wongras managed to start her day with four consecutive birdies on the back nine at Cobram, and rolled in two more alongside just the one bogey to make the turn in 5-under.
 
“My putting was just working today,” said Wongras. “It was nice, the wind was pretty calm and the golf course was really nice.”

Wongras managed a further three birdies on her second nine, including two back-to-back late in the round to take some momentum into Friday.
 
Having played most of her golf last year back home in Thailand, Wongras usually makes the most of her limited visits to Australia and finished in a tie for nineteenth on the Murray last year.
 
Starting on opposite sides of the course, both Peake (28) and Hendry (30) took apart each half of Cobram’s Old Course to start their days.
 
Carding an eagle, a bogey and six birdies on his opening nine, Peake packed the fireworks for his trip to the Murray, as it looked as if the club record may be in danger.
 
“Oh yeah, I was thinking about it” Peake said of looking at an ultra-low score.
 
“Putted really well on the front nine, took advantage of all my opportunities.
 
“I just saw the lines perfectly and rolled them all in, but I think you can’t expect to play like that for all 18-holes.”
 
An even-par back nine with two birdies and two bogeys paled in comparison to the front, although Peake wasn’t complaining with his name atop the leaderboard.
 
“Towards the back nine the wind started to pick up a little bit, so I got a few wedge numbers wrong. Didn’t give myself the best opportunities,” he said.
 
“I don’t think the putts roll in quite as easy in the afternoon as they do early in the morning and that’s kind of what I found on the back nine, but no, very, very satisfied with that start.
 
“I think early in the morning it’s always been known that that’s when you’ve got to shoot your score, so very happy to have done it.”
 
Similarly, Hendry opened his Murray River account with a 6-under 30 on the back nine at Cobram, the Kiwi admitting the fast start came as a bit of a surprise to even him.
 
“Yeah, the way I’ve been putting, yes, I am a bit surprised,” Hendry said with a smile. “My putter has been a little bit uncooperative, but I actually put a new one in today and been working with a friend of mine back home on customising it and it really worked nicely today, so hopefully it stays nice and hot.”
 
Again, in a similar fashion to Peake, it was a tale of two nines for Hendry, however his only two blemishes came in his final three holes, leaving a bitter sting to what was otherwise a flawless round of golf.
 
“It’s obviously pretty early in the year and I haven’t played a lot of golf, so been working pretty hard from the beginning of last week really to try and sort of chip the rust off and work on what me and my coach are working on,” he said.
 
“I definitely had it there for a while today, which is great, and the great thing is the bad shots came from not quite doing what I wanted to do, so it proves to me that what we’re working on is the right thing.”
 
Finishing seventh last year on the Murray, Hendry has fond memories and says the course here is a great match for his accurate game.
 
“It’s quite narrow in places and essentially that’s my game,” he said. “I hit it pretty straight, hit a lot of greens and hopefully if I can putt well, I will have a good round of golf pretty much like I did today.
 
“It’s just a matter of making sure the putter’s cooperating, and most of the time if that happens on a course like this, I’m probably going to do okay.”