BY BRENDAN JAMES at ROYAL MELBOURNE

Veteran Thomas Bjorn has grabbed the halfway lead of the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf with a superior display of ball-striking on a Royal Melbourne course branded as 'unfair' by Australia's Jason Day.

While big Dane heads the individual leaderboard, Day and team-mate Adam Scott have crept back into contention on the back of a near flawless round from Day and a seven-shot resurgence from Scott. The Queensland duo moved up five places into a tie for third with two rounds to go.

Day followed his opening round of 68 with a two-birdie, one-bogey round of 70 to move into a share of third place with Portugal’s Ricardo Santos, four shots behind leader Bjorn and three back of American Kevin Streelman.

On a day when only 17 players out of the 60-man field bettered par around the fabled Royal Melbourne Composite course, Day was as solid as rock. He rarely found himself out of position and, when he did, he was able to call on his masterful short game to get him out of trouble.

Jason Day's great short game kept him in red figures on he leaderboard. PHOTO: BRENDAN JAMES

However, Day, 26, said he was frustrated at the number of putts that lipped out but he was staying confident that the weekend would bring some lower scores.

“I had three lip outs, pretty harsh ones, but definitely happy with shooting one under today … especially being out here at Royal Melbourne with how hard and fast the greens are, it (your score) can definitely go south pretty quick,” he said.

“It can be frustrating out there sometimes but this is the kind of a course that will frustrate you and make you make mental errors and you just can’t let that happen. You can’t let the course beat you up.”

The Queenslander said he believed the Royal Melbourne course was actually on the brink of becoming “unfair”. He said he played with Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and both of them struggled to hold one particular green, despite landing their approach shots on the front of the putting surface.

“On nine, where I landed my ball, my second shot, was a little bit further than what I would have liked to but it bounced over the green,” he said. “G-Mac landed his just on the green and it bounced and rolled 30 paces. So, I mean, he was coming in with a short iron so it’s kind of … a little unfair, to have the ball bounce just where you would land it perfect, just on the front of the green, and it bounces 30 paces over the back is just a little unfair.

“But other than that, you know, I know they watered the greens last night and some were just a little inconsistent but the course is in great shape. You kind of have to guess on holes how far it is really going to bounce.”

PGA Tour of Australasia Director of Tournaments Andrew Langford-Jones defended Day’s claims that the course was “unfair” saying “the ‘Old Lady’ is exactly the way we want it to be to be a test of golf.

“From our point of view and that of the Federation (of Tours) the course is exactly where we were hoping it would be given the weather forecasts we had,” he said.

“I am surprised at the comments that the course is on the brink … I haven’t heard that from any other players. It’s hard, it’s fast … the Old Lady is exactly where we want it to be as a test of golf and I think the scores are proving that.

“We don’t tend to soften up the course or do anything else and most of the players, I think, are enjoying it.

“The greens were running at about 13’ 8” this morning (on the stimpmeter) … good shots out of the fairway are holding … that’s the main thing for us. The greens are quick, and we don’t like to compare, but they’re no quicker than Augusta. It’s exactly the way Royal Melbourne should be played.”

Day and Adam Scott, who are hoping to be the first Australian pair to win the World Cup since Peter Fowler and Wayne Grady did it in 1989, improved five places on their first round position and have moved into a tie for third, seven shots behind the American pair of Streelman and Kuchar who are 10 under. Denmark’s Bjorn and Thorbjorn Olesen are second at seven under.

The Australian cause was certainly helped by Scott, who fought back from his first day 75, which included an horrendous quintuple bogey nine on the par-4 12th, to shoot a three under 68.

His driving was, again, outrageously good and he had 29 putts for the round, which could easily have been four or five less as several putts pulled up short of the cup, despite the speed of the greens.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn attempts a long putt on one of Royal Melbourne's sloping greens. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Bjorn, making his fifth World Cup appearance followed his opening round 66 with a 68 where five birdies during the round were book-ended by bogies at the 1st and 18th holes.

Bjorn said he couldn’t be happier with the way he is playing and just has to remain patient over the next 36 holes because the course is getting harder to play.

“You know, bounces go your way, and bounces go against you on this golf course, and maybe I was a bit unfortunate on the last,” he said. “That was obviously disappointing but, you know, I played some really, really good stuff on that back nine and I have got to take that with me.”

Bjorn said the players chasing him would have to contend with the course that really penalises the player who is too aggressive.

“(Royal Melbourne) It’s tricky.  You know, I think if you get aggressive then it becomes really, really difficult,” he said. “  I think that’s the problem, if you start chasing on this golf course. I knew coming in here it was important to get a good start because then you never feel like you’re chasing birdies. As soon as you start chasing and start chasing flags then you’re going to find yourself in so much trouble.

“I think it’s very playable if you play it sensible but, you know, if you are behind then you obviously feel like you’ve got to chase a bit and then it becomes extremely tricky.”

American Kevin Streelman, who shared the lead with Bjorn after the first day, is one shot back of the big Dane and is playing great golf around a course he is still learning about but greatly admires.

Streelman, ranked No.46 in the world, carded a 69, which was highlighted by a sensational four birdies in the first four holes.

“I kind of just did what you are supposed to on those first four holes,” the American said with a smile.

But Royal Melbourne has become famous as a golf course where you can only plunder it for birdies on so many holes before it strikes back. Streelman felt the brunt of the ‘Old Dame’s’ fury on the 8th (bogey) and 9th holes (double bogey) to lose his four-shot buffer over the field.

“I just hit it in the wrong part of the golf course, No.8 and No.9,” Streelman said. “And Royal Melbourne will bite you when you do that, which is what makes it such an awesome golf course.

Kevin Streelman is a devotee of good golf course design and he's fallen in love with Royal Melbourne in just a few days. PHOTO: BRENDAN JAMES

“The course is in brilliant shape and the greens are really moving and I don’t see them getting any slower this weekend so it’s going to be a good battle.”

With fellow American Matt Kuchar moving to three under and a tie for sixth, the ‘Stars and Stripes’ have a three stroke lead in the team section of the World Cup.

Streelman said he was looking forward to hopefully playing with ‘Kooooch’ over the weekend. The format of this World Cup is the same as any 72-hole stroke event where the weekend tee times are determined and seeded by individual score, not team score. If the Americans do get to play together they cannot give each other any advice.

“It would be a lot of fun,” he said. “It would actually feel like a normal tour event to us (not giving advice) but we’d probably secretly be giving each other high-fives or low-fives a bit more than we would be in a normal tour event.

“Anyway … I am definitely keeping my eye on that team score. So, you know, I know he will be there for me and then hopefully I can continue to play well and we can bring it home.”

For full scores and second round tee times visit http://worldcup.pgatour.com/leaderboard.aspx