KEY POINTS:
Michael Campbell promised, and delivered, with a 6-under 65 to sit nestled a stroke behind the leaders and give a strong New Zealand flavour to the Open championship leaderboard at the halfway point yesterday.
And the joint leaders, England's Nick Dougherty and Australian Wade Ormsby, will be watching him closely today; the world No 22 will be immediately in front of them all afternoon at the $1.5 million Blue Chip-sponsored Open at Gulf Harbour.
Campbell reckoned he wasn't far off a low round after his even par 71 on Thursday. Had he not bogeyed the 18th hole yesterday, his only dropped shot of a classy display, he would have been looking Dougherty and Ormsby squarely in the eyes today.
As it is, Campbell was not above a spot of psychology as he pondered the weekend.
"I'm pretty determined. I know they'll be watching me on the leaderboard because of my record," he said.
"I'm a pretty good frontrunner and I would guess I've got the upper hand mentally."
The joint leaders did their business in contrasting ways yesterday. Dougherty was out early and took advantage of good conditions with five birdies in six holes midway through his round.
South Australian Ormsby, seeking his first title, set a course-record 8-under 63 in the afternoon when there was still enough wind to keep the players honest.
But the eyes were drawn to Campbell, who flew out of the gate with an eagle 3 at the 479m par 5 second and birdied the third.
He appeared a man in command of his game for most of his round, finding ways to get out of anything resembling a sticky spot and taking most of his opportunities.
Campbell shoved his tee shot at the 18th to the right, in his words "chunked" his chip, and his putt rolled past the hole.
He reckoned he was "in that bubble" for most of the day, deeply focused on his job, not noticing his family and mates in the gallery, and is quietly confident of his first strokeplay title since his US Open triumph 18 months ago.
Ormsby had a hot putter yesterday. That hasn't always been the case and he admitted he's battled with the money stick for much of the year. He could have fooled most of the spectators yesterday, needing just 22 putts in his round, ending impressively by drilling a 20-footer on the 18th.
Ormsby had nine birdies and a solitary bogey and opined that he "didn't hit it great today, but I played smart because I knew I was putting well".
"If you're putting well you can do anything," he said.
So was Dougherty, who will chase his first victory of the year over the weekend.
"This course suits me and hopefully I've saved my best for the weekend," he said.
First round leader, West Australian Scott Strange, kept himself in the frame with a 1-under 70 to be alone in fourth on 137. There is a posse of nine players on 4-under - a mix of Aussies, Englishman and a solitary Irishman, Peter Lawrie.
Australians Gavin Coles and Scott Hend matched Campbell's 65 to share the day's best round behind Ormsby.
Campbell has Kiwi company near the top of the leaderboard, Michael Long's 70 keeping him at 3-under, while Campbell's 1992 Eisenhower Trophy-winning teammate Stephen Scahill's even round has him at 2-under.
Sixty seven players got inside the top 65 and ties to get another two rounds. Among them are a third member of that Eisenhower quartet, Phil Tataurangi, who bounced back from a first-day 78 with a fine 5-under 66.
Twelve New Zealanders tee up today including first-time professional Mark Purser, who followed his 69 on Thursday with a 72 yesterday.
The hard-luck story was Gulf Harbour pro Mike Duncumb, who was in until he bogeyed his last hole.
Frontrunners
After second round, par-71
135: Nick Dougherty (England) 69, 66, Wade Ormsby (Australia) 72, 63.
136: Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 71, 65.
137: Scott Strange (Australia) 67, 70.
138: Andrew Raitt (England) 71, 67, Shaun Webster (England) 70, 68, Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 72, 66, Peter Senior (Australia) 69, 69, Greg Chalmers (Australia) 68, 70, Jarrod Moseley (Australia) 68, 70, Marcus Fraser (Australia) 69, 69, Nathan Green (Australia) 71, 67, David Bransdon (Australia) 70, 68.
