Tim Clark, one of a pair of overnight leaders, continued to perform strongly at the head of the pack, adding a steady 70 to his fine 67 on Thursday.
He is not the prettiest player out there but in an age of conforming swing orthodoxy it’s nice to see a player do it a little differently.
When The Masters began thirty years ago and in the age before the video camera, players applied many unique swing methods and there was no mistaking Bob Shearer with Jack Newton or Stewart Ginn with Graham Marsh.
Clark is a shot ahead of Anthony Summers and one of our finest young talents, Michael Sim.
Sim is about as thin as a female fashion model and he has struggled in the past with a dodgy back but it seems he is recovered and looks close to playing some of his best golf.
It won’t be too long before he breaks into the American Tour and consolidates his place – unless, of course, he wins here and earns a card to play The European Tour.
The European Tour is that in name only in this age because it seems at least half of it is played far from the official borders of the continent. Increasingly it looks as though its financial future is as much going to be in the Dubai, China and other parts of Asia as London, Munich and Paris.
Robert Allenby slipped around early for a 66 and as well as he knows and understands the course he must be considered the most likely and he won’t have to concern himself with Stuart Appleby, Craig Parry, Peter O’Malley or John Daly all of whom missed the one-over-par cut.
Appleby was atrocious with the putter as was O’Malley who hits almost all the greens and gets little out of his play with the long clubs.
He is a short hitter compared to the rest but few can hit as straight as the New South Welshman.
It is easy to see how O’Malley could get discouraged as he tries to compete with players who drive eighty yards further and the fear of the over forties player is that the game simply passes them by.
O’Malley will have to work hard over the coming seasons if he is to stay a competitive European tour player, although the finest old Australian courses that reward skills other than massive power may ensure he can keep up with the new players for a few years to come.
Daly had a chance to make the cut but he followed a massive drive up the 11th with a poor pitch and three miserable putts then at the long 14th he followed a drive with a five iron and three putts again, this time from less than twenty-five feet.
He will need to do better in Coolum and there is even talk of him playing the Open in Sydney. Daly will attract publicity early in the week but to be more than a sideshow he needs to finally earn his money in Australia and get into the business end of a tournament on Sunday afternoon.
Last years playoff loser Daniel Chopra played with O’Malley and Appleby and whilst much less convincing with the long clubs he made the weekend after a 70 and 72.
He was the last man standing on the range after play and the winner of the American Tournament of Champions was bemoaning his iron play.
"After I won and got the two year exemption I decided it was time to fix my swing," he said.
"I couldn’t rely on the one or two weeks when I took advantage of my driving and my great putting. My iron play is terrible and even this week in the pro-am I played with an eleven marker who had more control over his irons than me!"
Clearly that was an exaggeration – or the eleven marker was the world’s worst putter – but Chopra’s struggle is universal.
Everybody out there is trying to fix the things they do badly and Chopra is smart enough to understand his long hitting and his 'magical' short game keep him competitive but he could make life a lot easier if he 'could hit the greens with my irons'.