A superb seven-under 63 and the struggles of overnight leader Rory McIlroy will see Xander Schauffele take a five-stroke lead into the third round, Davis one of five players hoping to bridge the gap on Saturday.

Boasting two top-10 finishes already this season, Davis shot 65 on day one to be tied for eighth and advanced his position considerably courtesy of a mid-round surge in his round of four-under 66.

His second shot finding the water led to a bogey at the par-5 13th, a shot he earned back with a superb approach shot to five feet at the par-4 17th.

But it was a birdie from seven feet at the par-4 first that sparked a back nine of four-under 31 to put Davis in the hunt for a second PGA TOUR title.

He holed a 10-footer for birdie at the short par-4 second and made it three on the trot when he drained a putt from outside 23 feet at the par-4 third.

A birdie at six made up for a bogey at four but the highlight would come at his final hole, holing a birdie putt from 38 feet to draw within five of Schaueffle’s lead.

Davis was the only one of the four Aussies to advance to the weekend rounds, former champion Marc Leishman missing the cut by two despite almost holing out for an ace at the par-3 eighth.

Round 1 leader Mark Hensby has dropped back to a share of ninth following a second round of two-over 73 at the US Senior Open at Saucon Valley Country Club in Pennsylvania.

Hensby took the outright lead with a birdie at his opening hole but three bogeys in the four holes prior to making the turn saw him slip down the leaderboard, four shots back of three-time major champion Padraig Harrington through 36 holes.

Victorian Richard Green had six birdies, six pars and six bogeys in his second consecutive even-par 71 to be tied for 13th, Rod Pampling one shot back at one-over in a tie for 22nd.

Stuart Appleby bounced back from a 76 in Round 1 with a 69 on day two to make the cut, three-over through 36 holes alongside countryman John Senden (72) with Gavin Coles (73) also through to the weekend.

At the DP World Tour’s BMW International Open Kiwi Ryan Fox has continued his outstanding season to lead the Australasian charge.

The only player in the field bogey-free through 36 holes, Fox shot eight-under 64 on Friday to draw to within one of front-runner Haotong Li, Wade Ormsby the only Aussie to make the cut but 11 shots off the lead.

Fox picked up his first birdie of the day from six feet on the fifth hole before holing his eagle putt from 14 feet on the sixth green.

Back-to-back birdies on the ninth and 10th took Fox to 11-under before play was suspended, and he made further progress upon the resumption.

After birdieing the 11th from close range, he holed from 33 feet for another at the 14th before closing his round with his sixth birdie of the day to climb to 14-under.

“I’m really happy. I did everything right the last couple of days and my short game has been really tidy – that’s been a big positive,” said Fox.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone bogey-free for 36 holes. I’m happy and in with a chance over the weekend again.

“I had a couple of really good shots just before the delay and I was really disappointed we stopped. Obviously we had no choice, it was pretty dark out there.

“It was a little scratchy the first couple of holes coming back, but I made a nice birdie on 11 and then a 35-footer on 14, then hit some good shots coming home after that.

“It would mean a lot (to win). There’s a lot of good names on this trophy and a lot of good names playing this week. It’s the goal over the weekend, there’s a lot of golf to be played though, so we’ll see what happens.”