• Australian Masters

Scott claims share of lead, Lyle makes cut

Scott's chances of retaining his title are looking strong © Getty Images

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Adam Scott strengthened his bid to defend his Australian Masters title as he hit a second-round 66 to claim a share of the lead with Nathan Holman.

Scott, who was second overnight, is looking to make it back-to-back wins after triumphing at last week's Australian PGA, claiming an 'Aussie Slam' in the process, birdied two of his last three holes to go level with Holman at nine under at the top of the leaderboard.

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But despite being in the form of his life Scott admits he's not taking anything for granted at the half-way stage.

"It was a great start but unfortunately I couldn't keep it going," he said. "I'm in good shape for the weekend but this course can jump up and get you."

The leading duo are one clear of Australians Matthew Griffin, who carded a 65, and first-round leader Nick Cullen, whose round of 69 saw him drop off the top of the leaderboard.

Behind them there is a three shot gap to American Matt Kuchar, who is four strokes off the pace in fifth place.

Leukaemia survivor Jarrod Lyle continued his fairytale comeback to the sport as he hit a par-round of 71 to make the cut in his first tournament in 20 months.

The 32-year-old is one over for the tournament, 10 shots behind the leading pair, but Lyle said that the fact he will be playing on Saturday and Sunday means he has already achieved what he set out to do.

He said: "If I have to crawl those last 18 holes, I'm crawling them. Nothing's going to stop me from finishing.

"I've done it. I've come here and achieved the biggest goal I've set myself for the week and that was to play four rounds of golf. I couldn't be happier than what I am."

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