Tour rookie Jake McLeod picked up today where he left off
yesterday securing his hold of top spot on the South Pacific Open Championship
leaderboard.

Beginning the second round with a two shot lead, McLeod
started his day with a birdie on the 1^st hole.

McLeod went on to fire 4-under 67, despite making a bogey on
the last, to hold a three shot lead following the morning field.

"I hit it well again today and gave myself a lot of
opportunities," said McLeod.

"I was really comfortable out there. I hit 16 greens and
putted really well. I bogeyed the last but it was a tough three putt."

"I think the pressure might start to kick in tomorrow and it
will be there on the weekend for sure. But hopefully it’s another good round
tomorrow."

The par-5 14^th and par-4 15^th at Tina
Golf Course continue to be kind to McLeod, who is 7-under on those holes alone
so far this week.

"I was going ok all day then I eagled 14 again and birdied
15 so it got me going," added McLeod, who is 12-under the card after his first
two days of work.

"They are my favourite holes on the course at the moment but
we will see tomorrow."

The best round of the morning field belonged to Tom Power
Horan, another Tour rookie, who fired 6-under to be outright second.

"I started on the first, hit driver to about eight feet and
made eagle, so I got off to a nice start," said Power Horan, who is now 9-under
the card after two rounds.

"It’s nice to gain on the lead, you don’t want to be too far
back. But 36 holes it a lot of holes around here. You can get a lot of two shot
swing holes and there are some really hard holes to finish."

Starting the week without any expectations, Power Horan is
happy with his first two rounds but needs to keep building if he is to win the
South Pacific Open.

"Putting four rounds all together is definitely an art and
it is hard.

"If you have one poor round you are going to fall away. To
finish up the top you can’t afford to do that."  

"There are a lot of young guys that play well here which is
good. But the field here is really good, it’s very deep."

Rounding out the top-5 on 5-under the card are
Daniel Valente (VIC), Andrew Evans (NSW), Matthew Giles (NSW), Deyen Lawson
(VIC) and Michael Wright (QLD).