When told by media he was leading the tournament, Kobori was taken by surprise.

"Has that put me in the lead? That’s pretty cool," he said.

"I struck the ball really well coming in after I snap-hooked one down the trees on 14.

"I don’t know, something must have clicked, I then started flagging it. I was putting well all day, so yeah, rolled a couple in and that was that."

Golf Australia magazine was set to ask the 24-year-old if he was a "scoreboard watcher" but it's clear he was not, at least on Friday.

"No, I really don’t mind. There are certain situations late in the round on a Sunday that you kind of need to know where you’re at because that influences decisions," Kobori said.

"But, for the most part, I like to play my game the best I can and then seeing where I finish."

PLUS...

'Confused' Smith's 75 seals seventh straight missed cut

Cameron Smith crumbled in a second-round 75 to miss a seventh straight cut as Min Woo Lee and Marc Leishman made moves at the Australian PGA Championship.

Kobori is one shot ahead of Brett Rankin and Anthony Quayle of Australia, and China's Wenyi Deng.

Min Woo Lee shot 66 today and at 8-under for the tournament sits one ahead of a clutch of players including Cameron Davis, Daniel Hillier and big-hitting Englishman Marco Penge who defied a sore neck to post 65. 

Round two will resume on Saturday morning before round three tee-times are announced.