Jason Scrivener has early second-round lead at Australian PGA

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Jason Scrivener shot a 4-under 67 in calm morning conditions Friday to take a two-shot clubhouse lead during the second round of the Australian PGA at Royal Queensland.

Scrivener, whose last tournament win was the New South Wales Open in 2017, had a 36-hole total of 10-under 132.

“The two days have been quite different,” said Scrivener. “Yesterday was stress free and I hit the ball tee to green very well. Today was a little scrappier but got away with a few things and scrambled well so all in all pretty happy with it.

Scrivener is a European tour member, born in South Africa and raised in Perth, Western Australia. The Australian PGA is co-sanctioned by the European tour.

Cameron John (65) and Masahiro Kawamura (66) were two behind Scrivener.

Adam Scott and British Open champion Cameron Smith were playing in the afternoon Friday. Scott shot 66 on Thursday and Smith 68 to be among the leaders.

Back pain forced Lucas Herbert to withdraw midway through his second round. A winner on the PGA and European tours, Herbert had hoped to use the Australian PGA to improve his ranking by five places to get inside the top 50 to secure a spot at next year’s Masters.

But after taking anti-inflammatory tablets and battling through 10 holes on Friday, Herbert decided to quit. He shot a 1-over 72 on Thursday.

He said his physiotherapist’s strong recommendation was to withdraw given the threat of a serious, long-term injury if he continued.

“I twinged my back this morning on the range, lost a lot of power in my swing,” Herbert said. “I tried everything I could to get going, I really wanted to keep playing and try and finish and make the cut and work my way up on the weekend.”

Smith is among six players who have competed in Saudi-funded LIV Golf events this year. Another player is Marc Leishman, who shot 72 Friday and is at 1-under on the tournament.