Felton equalled the week’s best with a round of six-under 66 on Friday, joining Victorians Jack Murdoch (68) and Matias Sanchez (69) at nine-under to establish a two-stroke buffer from Queensland’s Tim Hart (70).

A three-time winner on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, Felton moved to the outright lead at 10-under when he birdied the par-4 16th.

However, he three-putted the par-3 17th and missed a birdie try from six feet at the par-5 18th to stay locked at nine-under with Murdoch and Sanchez.

A birdie putt from 15 feet at the par-4 third sparked a nine-hole run that Felton played in seven-under par, bringing back memories of his Kalgoorlie triumph in 2020 that was restricted to WA-based players only due to COVID-19.

The unique desert landscape can be punishing to those who stray off-line but Felton has adopted an aggressive mindset in past tournaments that has him positioned for a further title push.

“Momentum is massive out here,” Felton said.

“I’ve adopted the game-plan since I first started coming out here of hitting a lot of drivers. Some of the guys do, and some of the guys don’t but some of the holes where you can hit driver it gets a little bit wider.

“It might look tight off the tee but it gets wider down the fairway and you can really take advantage of some of the pins when they put them on the tiers if you’ve got a shorter shot in.

“Just really trusting my long game to give myself an easier shot in.

“It could have been one of those rounds that was nine or 10 (under) but very happy with six-under.”

The leader by one after Round 1, Sanchez rebounded from dropped shots at eight and nine with birdies at 10 and 11 on his way to a round of three-under 69.

The two-time Royal Melbourne club champion was tied 15th at the 2017 Australian Open but believes he is now far more equipped to handle the pressure of tournament contention.

“There are times when you can get ahead of yourself when you’re young because it’s exciting and all,” Sanchez conceded.

“At the end of the day you’ve just got to tell yourself that it’s just another round of golf. I think I’ve learnt that.

“There’s still so much golf to be played. Someone from even par can still win this tournament.

“I’m just going to go out there tomorrow and do exactly what I’ve been doing the first few days and try and shoot the best possible score.”

Picking up from his five-under 67 on day one, Murdoch made just the one bogey in his round of 68 on Friday.

Posting three top-10s on the Asian Development Tour this year, Murdoch made three birdies in the space of four holes from the second to maintain his lofty position on the leaderboard with two rounds to play.

“I picked up from where I left off yesterday which was good. Drove it pretty good again and just continued on which was good. Very happy,” said Murdoch, who was sidelined for much of 2021 with a shoulder injury.

“I’m happy, obviously, but there’s always stuff to work on. It’s going all right. Hopefully just keep doing the same stuff and hopefully some putts drop.”

Hart joined the leaders at nine-under through five holes of his second round but gave up ground late, a double bogey at 14 and dropped shots at 15 and 16 giving him a two-shot deficit heading into Round 3.

David Micheluzzi (67) and amateur star Jeffrey Guan (71) are in a tie for fifth at six-under as Brett Rankin joined a six-way tie for seventh by matching Felton’s six-under 66.

Defending champion Jay Mackenzie (70) is in a tie for 33rd at two-over, 60 players surviving the cut-line of four-over.

The final two rounds of the WA PGA Championship will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo over the weekend, coverage running from 2.30pm-5.30pm AEDT on Saturday and 12.30pm-5.30pm on Sunday.

Saturday will also see the playing of the WA PGA All Abilities Championship while 32 amateurs will contest the Road to the Outback Championship.

Click here for full leaderboard and Round 3 draw.