Dire weather predictions failed to come to fruition for those out early with a strengthening breeze the only defence to the low scoring that has dominated the first two days, lightning in the area and rain forcing a suspension of play at 1.45pm AEDT.

Overnight leader Dimi Papadatos created a two-shot buffer to the rest of the field with only the 18th still be completed while Sim’s second consecutive 6-under 66 elevated him into outright second, one shot ahead of Blake Windred, James Marchesani, Anthony Quayle and Aaron Wilkin (through 16 holes) at 11-under.

Murray’s 7-under 65 was the equal-best of the morning groups along with Matt Millar and would have had him positioned even higher than seventh on the leaderboard if not for a mishap midway through his opening round.

Murray’s second shot into the par-5 ninth finished in bushes right of the green and after spending a couple of minutes clearing debris so that he could get his club on the ball, realised as he marked his ball on the green that it wasn’t his.

“I was in shock because I’d spent so long clearing the lie to be able to hit it,” Murray said. “It was a comedy of errors.

“We laughed about it afterwards but it was a bit of a kick in the guts because you knew on a day like that, bogeys hurt so triple bogeys really hurt.

“But I was calm the whole time. It’s the things that I’ve been practising coming to the forefront.

“After not playing well in Europe at the back-end of last year I really came back with a different perspective on my golf.

“The mindset that I’m in at the moment is really nice. It’s a tough game at times when you’re not playing well but those underlying values that I learnt over there have come to the forefront a little bit.”

A pre-5am wake-up call in darkness at home in Melbourne gave little cause to consider the prospects of wild weather as the 24-year-old calmly compiled a round of 65 to go with a first round of 3-under 69.

Starting his second round with a birdie at nine, an 8-iron to 20 feet opened the door to an eagle at the par-5 12th, birdies at 16 and 18 getting Murray to 3-under at the turn. He picked up another at the short par-4 second and then closed with birdies at two of his final three holes to earn a treasured Saturday sleep-in.

Tied for third at the 2009 Moonah Classic, Michael Sim is also well positioned for the switch from the Legends Course across to the Open Course over the weekend after a second consecutive 6-under 66.

Sim’s only two bogeys through 36 holes have both come at the par-4 15th, two opening birdies a nice way to settle into a rhythm in more difficult conditions.

“The wind got up overnight and woke me up and then there was some rain showers that rolled through. It was pretty windy from the get-go,” said Sim, whose 2009 Moonah Classic result was the pre-cursor to his three-win season on the Nationwide Tour.

“The first tee is quite a wide drive but the wind was in off the left and I don’t think any professional likes that wind direction and being elevated makes it a little bit more exposed.

“I managed to hit a good drive down there, couldn’t get on for two so laid up and pitched it close.

“I did that on the second as well so it was nice to get started that way.

“I didn’t really hit it close today, I made a good amount of 12-15 foot putts. I really like the greens here this week but the interesting thing coming up is that we’re now switching golf courses.”

Victorian Ben Campbell has been disqualified after playing the wrong ball but not realising until after he had played the following hole.