Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen fired an eagle at the par-5 14th as well as four birdies and one bogey to close with a 5-under 66 and take a share of the lead at 9-under at the Crown Australian Open.

“It’s been a couple of really good days,” said Neergaard-Petersen. “I thought yesterday I stayed really, really patient and was able to put together a nice finish and then today I got off to a really good start and I think from there pretty much I hit a lot of really good golf shots, gave myself a lot of chances and was able to convert some of them.

“So two really good days work and looking forward to the weekend.”

Portugal’s Daniel Rodrigues, a recent graduate of Qualifying School, made one bogey followed by eight birdies for a 64 and a share of the lead.

“It was really solid,” said Rodrigues. “It was really good. I think a seven under at Royal Melbourne is going to be good either way.

“It was a little bit of a rough start on six, but I made it actually a really good putt for bogey and gave me some confidence for the rest of the round and it was very good.”

Australia’s Min Woo Lee carded a bogey-free 65 featuring an eagle at the par-4 10th to move into solo third place at 8-under.

Australians Adam Scott, bogey-free 66, one eagle at the 10th, and a bogey-free Cam Smith (65) are tied in fourth place at 7-under alongside Mexican Carlos Ortiz who made three bogeys and closed with a 70.

The leading three players not already exempt who make the cut in the Crown Australian Open will qualify for The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.

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