Defending National Futures Champion Frazer Droop has battled through illness to gain the lead at the halfway mark of the world’s richest PGA Trainee tournament.

Greeted with icy conditions at Ballarat Golf Club more akin to winter than spring, Droop grinded out a tough round of 1-under 71 to get to 3-under the card and lead by one shot.

“We got around which is the main thing. I was a bit rusty this morning when I woke up with a pretty sore throat but we hung in there today, it was a good grind,” said Droop, a second year PGA Trainee who works under his father, PGA Professional Evan Droop at Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort.

“Being pretty cold this morning and with a lot of dew on the ground the golf ball wasn’t reacting like it normally would do, there was hardly any spin out there early on.

“To get around in 1-under par was pretty solid so no complaints there.

“Tomorrow will just be sticking to the game plan and enjoy it with the boys, that’s the main thing. Then we’ll see if we can go a bit lower.”

Ben Stowe, a third year PGA Trainee at Royal Sydney Golf Club is still within striking distance of his first four-round tournament win following his round of 1-over 73 and is outright second behind Droop at 2-under the card.

“I’m actually not as disappointed as I thought I would’ve been with that score. I got off to a horrific start, I bogeyed the first two holes from the middle of the fairway which was disappointing but I grinded out pretty well,” said Stowe.

“I got my round back to under par but just made a couple of silly errors on the back-9, it was definitely harder out there today I thought.”

While in a good position come ‘Moving Day’ tomorrow, Stowe is aware that he will be fighting off a chasing pack of PGA Trainees.

“It’s nice to be in a good spot after 36 holes but there are still 36 holes to go. it’s a lot of golf, we’ll see what happens over the last two rounds.”

Reigning Rich River Classic champion Brayden Petersen, a first year PGA Trainee at Asquith Golf Club is outright third at 1-under the card following his round of 2-under 70, a score that earned him round of the day alongside Cooper Eccleston (Victoria Park Golf Complex) and Dylan Thompson (Bathurst Golf Club).

The 2017 PGA Trainee of the Year, Ben Pisani, a second year PGA Trainee from Royal Melbourne Golf Club and Mitchell Gannon, a first year PGA Trainee from Kogarah Golf Club share fourth place at even par.

The cut was made at 15-over the card with 51 PGA Trainees making the final two rounds.

For the full leaderboard visit pga.org.au.

The leading group of Frazer Droop, Ben Stowe and Brayden Petersen will tee off at 9:38am AEDT.

For full tee times, visit pga.org.au.