Emerging Australian Cameron Smith has vaulted into contention at the United States PGA Tour's CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges event in South Korea.
Smith, 24, carded a second-round 68 in tough conditions at Jeju Island to move into equal-third place, just two shots from the lead.
The Queenslander is backing up the form he showed at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last week, where he was tied-fifth.
Gusty winds greeted the players at the course today and the field was compressed, helped along by a stuttering round by the runaway first-round leader, world No. 3 Justin Thomas, who ended up carding a two-over 74 after his opening 63.
Thomas made a surprising bogey at the par-five 18th when he airmailed the green from a trap with his third shot, and dropped back to two from the lead held by Luke Lisk of the USA at nine-under.
Smith is at seven-under through two rounds after a six-birdie day.
Victoria's Marc Leishman also is in the mix after a solid second-round 72 that left him tied-sixth at six-under par, just two from the lead. He had his hands on the lead at one point of his round but two bogeys on the back nine saw him slide down the leaderboard.
Former world No. 1 Jason Day is tied-24th after a second-round 74.