Scrivener reeled off eight birdies – including four in a row from the 11th – in a spotless 64 at Halmstad Golf Club on Friday, keeping his card clean with a par save from nine feet at the last.

Italian amateur Carolina Melgrati was one of three players in a tie for second after following up Thursday’s 65 with a second-round 69, with home favourite Linn Grant and Mike Lorenzo-Vera also on 10-under par.

Afternoon starter Lorenzo-Vera had closed the gap to Scrivener to just one shot after notching seven birdies in his opening 13 holes but his first bogey of the day at the 17th saw him sign for a 66.

Currently ranked No.214 in the world, Scrivener began the day three shots off the lead but soon set about closing the gap, pouring in a 32-foot birdie putt at the long second before making back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth.

The 33-year-old then caught fire on the back nine, carding four consecutive birdies at the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th thanks to a hot putter.

Scrivener curled in his 20-foot effort at the 17th for another birdie before holing his tricky par putt on the 18th green to set the clubhouse target at 12-under par.

Holding a share of the 54-hole lead at the same event last year, Scrivener is looking forward to doing battle with his challengers over the weekend.

“I’m looking forward to it. It has been a while since I have been in contention and I’m just excited to be in this position. I can’t wait,” said Scrivener, whose best finish this year is a tie for ninth at The Ras Al Khaimah Classic.

“It has been a frustrating couple of months, and I felt a round like this was close and I am pretty happy with it.

“I have been playing decent just not really holing any putts and making a few mistakes here and there, and not putting a score together, so for it all to come together today it was nice.”

The event pits players from the DP World Tour and the Ladies European Tour against each other in a similar format to The Players Series on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, Scrivener’s fellow West Australian Whitney Hillier (69) safely through to the weekend in a tie for 34th.

Victorian Zach Murray will also play the final two rounds after he too posted a round of three-under 69 on day two.

Meanwhile on the Japan Golf Tour, Aussie Brad Kennedy is once again in contention after firing a second consecutive round of six-under 66 on Friday.

The 47-year-old, who is chasing his fourth JGTO title, reached the halfway stage at the ASO Iizuka Golf Club on 12-under 132, just one shot off second round leader Tomoyo Ikeura, who signed for a 68.

Three straight birdies was the ideal start to Kennedy’s second round but he had to wait until the 13th hole to register his fourth, rounding off his day with glorious back-to-back birdies at the final two holes.

“It was a great start,” said Kennedy, whose last triumph came at the Shigeo Nagashima Invitational SEGA SAMMY Cup in 2018.

“I birdied one, two and three, but in the middle of the round, it went a little bit flat, but it wasn’t from the lack of trying.

“Just a few tricky pins, a few holes that you have to make sure you do the right things from the fourth hole all the way to the 12th.

“I hit a poor third shot on 12 as I was trying to make a birdie there, but then I managed to make up for it on 13. It was a nice strong birdie. I got up-and-down from the bunker on 14 for par and managed to birdie 17 and 18, which is a great way to finish off the day.

“I’ve been hitting a lot of good shots, just not quite get it close enough. Sometimes, that’s what happens. I still try to make as many birdies as I can.

“It’s nice to have another two good days and prepare for the weekend.

“It’s always a good being in contention, and it means I’m doing a lot of really good work.

“I hope I can play well under pressure and be there at the end.”

Victorian Ryan Ruffels is also in the mix at the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am.

Ruffels backed up a brilliant round of eight-under 64 at The Carolina Country Club on Thursday with a two-under 69 at Thornblade Club on Friday to be 10-under heading into the weekend, four shots back of Argentinian Nelson Ledesma.

A week out from the US Open, Cameron Smith looks like advancing to the final two rounds at the RBC Canadian Open, backing up from an opening six-over 76 with a five-under 65 highlighted by a hole-out eagle at the par-4 fifth.

Making his debut on the Legends Tour in Europe, Richard Green is also towards the pointy end of the leaderboard at the Jersey Legends.

Green had an eagle and four birdies in his round of five-under 67, trailing Frenchman Christian Cevaer by three strokes heading into the second round.