Casey, Oosthuizen in contention as Jones leads Australian Open

Sydney, December 6: Paul Casey surged into contention at the Australian Open as Matt Jones took a one-stroke lead at the halfway mark on Friday.

Casey fired a six-under 65 in the second round at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney to get to nine under and put himself in position for a third win of 2019.

The Englishman is tied for second with last year's runner-up Dimitrios Papadatos (66), the duo sitting a shot behind Jones (65).

Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open Championship winner, carded a five-under 66 to be in a five-man group tied for fourth at eight under.

American Cameron Tringale (65), the world's top-ranked amateur Takumi Kanaya (69), Australian Shae Wools-Cobb (65) and New Zealander Denzel Ieremia (65) are also two shots behind the leader.

Marc Leishman sits in a tie for 12th at six under, while defending champion Abraham Ancer is a further two shots back.

However, 2009 champion Adam Scott missed the cut after failing to recover from his opening-round 75, shooting a 67 to finish even par and one stroke from making the weekend.