Five straight birdies to complete his second round has put Aussie Travis Smyth right in the mix to contend for the Asian Tour’s Blue Canyon Phuket Championship in Thailand.

The first Asian Tour event since the Bandar Malaysian Open in March 2020, local hope Sadom Kaewkanjana equalled Greg Norman’s course record of eight-under 64 on day two but it won’t be considered official as preferred lies were in play.

Kaewkanjana (12-under) leads by one from American John Catlin (68) with Chan Shih-chang (68) and Sihwan Kim (66) both in a share of fourth at 10-under.

Starting with a one-over par round of 73, Smyth roared into contention with a round of seven-under 65 on day two but he waited until late to make an impression on the leaderboard.

Two-under on his round through 13 holes, Smyth was sitting just inside the cut line before catching fire, heading into the weekend with five consecutive birdies and six shots off the lead.

“I think I have had five in a row before, but never to finish a round,” said Smyth.

It has been a challenging period for Smyth who has played just one international event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a missed cut at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour in October.

Level with Smyth at six-under through two rounds is South Australian Wade Ormsby.

The current No.1 on the Asian Tour Order of Merit thanks largely to his victory at the Hong Kong Open in January 2020, Ormsby returned a second consecutive round of three-under 69 and will play alongside Smyth in Saturday’s third round.

Queensland’s Scott Hend (71) is two shots further back in a tie for 23rd with Sam Brazel (70) and Jake Higginbottom (67) the other Aussies to advance to the final two rounds.

Whitney Hillier is well positioned to finish off her best season on the Ladies European Tour in style, tied for eighth after the second round of the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De Espana in Spain.

Hillier (70) is six strokes off the lead of Spain’s Carlota Ciganda (66) while Stephanie Kyriacou enhanced her chances of a top-five finish on the Order of Merit with a second round of three-under 69 to move into a tie for 14th.

Dylan Perry bounced back from an opening round of one-over 73 with a round of six-under 66 at the Japan Golf Tour’s Casio World Open, tied with fellow Queenslander Anthony Quayle (70) in a tie for 28th.