The Kiwi was suffering with back trouble at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship and missed out on the weekend by one shot seven days ago. A weekend of treatment looks to have done the trick, however, as he moved to 12-under on day two at Al Hamra Golf Club to lead the way from West Australian Jason Scrivener (69), South Africans Oliver Bekker (62), Justin Harding (67) and Zander Lombard (63), Italy’s Francesco Laporta (69) and Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal.

A 2016 European Challenge Tour graduate, Fox won the 2019 ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth on his way to the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit but is still seeking a first 72-hole stroke play win on the DP World Tour.

And should he claim one this week, he believes the key may have been having last weekend off to recover from his injury.

“I struggled with my back last week and I was fighting. Everything was crossed over and I didn’t know where I was aiming,” he said. “I was just pretty much trying to hit the ball to be honest and I was probably quite glad I had a weekend off.

“Had a lot of physio work over the weekend with the tour physios and then with my physio from Tuesday onwards. That loosened everything up and I felt like I could turn through it again, I felt like I could start the ball where I wanted to and from that point it was kind of easy. I felt like I could hit my shot where I wanted to which was a nice place to be.

“I made seven birdies today so hopefully I can just keep it going the next couple of days.”

Fox started the day with a two-shot lead and while he made five pars to start his second round, he put approaches to five feet at the sixth and ninth to turn in 34.

He dropped a shot on the 12th but then got up and down from the sand at the driveable par-4 13th, took advantage of the par-5 next and put his tee-shot to 14 feet at the 15th for a hat-trick of gains.

Sand off the tee at the 16th led to a bogey but he recovered the shot from 13 feet on the next before finding water on the last for a closing bogey.

Following on from his opening round of six-under 66, Scrivener picked up shots at the fifth and eighth holes before his first bogey of the week when he failed to get up-and-down from the sand at the par-4 10th.

There would be no more dropped shots though as he added birdies at 13 and 18 to put himself in position to push for his first DP World Tour victory.

Maverick Antcliff (70) and Wade Ormsby (68) are five shots behind Fox in a share of 14th at seven-under but Scott Hend missed the cut with a round of five-over 77 on day two.

Round 1 leader Daniel Hillier (72) dropped back into a tie for 10th at the Challenge Tour’s Dimension Data Pro-Am in South Africa, the Kiwi now seven shots back of Frenchman Adrien Saddier at the Fancourt Golf Estate.

The cut will follow the third round when all players have completed rounds on the three courses in use, Newcastle’s Blake Windred needing to make a move following a second round of one-under 72 to be tied for 86th.

Harrison Endycott had seven birdies in his round of six-under 64 at the Pacos Course to be the leading Australian at the halfway mark of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Golf Championship in Colombia, Endycott soaring 42 spots to be tied for 12th.

Midway through the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open Queenslander Adam Scott is the pick of the Aussies, tied for 26th at four-under and six shots off the lead.

Making his debut at TPC Scottsdale, Lucas Herbert was inside the cut-line at one-under prior to his second round.