Rising Danish star Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen has locked into the sandbelt mindset, taking advantage of benign morning conditions at Royal Melbourne to claim a share of the lead midway through the second round of the Australian Open.

Fresh off a successful first full year on the DP World Tour, Neergaard-Petersen picked up four shots in three holes early in his second round on Friday and added two further birdies coming home to sign for a five-under 66.

It left him at nine under, tied with Portugal's Daniel Rodrigues, who birdied eight of his last 12 holes in a sizzling round of seven-under 64.

Mexican Carlos Ortiz (70) was in outright third at seven under.

Overnight co-leader Elvis Smylie, tournament headliner Rory McIlroy and leading Australians Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee and Cameron Smith all had afternoon tee times on Friday.

They will be chasing the 26-year-old Neergaard-Petersen, who has gained valuable sandbelt experience after playing several times at nearby Peninsula-Kingswood in recent times with his good mate and DP World Tour colleague David Micheluzzi.

"It makes a difference, certainly knowing what to expect," said the Dane.

"The eagle I made today, it's one of those shots you're never normally thinking about.

"I had a six-iron and you're landing it five steps short of the green. But that's some of the shots you've got to hit here.

"It's kind of getting into that sandbelt mindset, which I think definitely helped."

Neergaard-Petersen got his tournament going with a strong finish to the opening round and carried that momentum into Friday.

"I hit a lot of really good golf shots, gave myself a lot of chances and was able to convert some of them," he said.

"So two really good days work and looking forward to the weekend."

Overnight co-leader Ryan Fox, who won twice on the PGA Tour in an outstanding 2025 campaign, was in the group tied for fourth at six under.

The highlight of the New Zealander's level-par round of 71 on Friday was an eagle at the par-5 14th.

"After yesterday it was always going to be hard to back up a round like that," Fox said.

"Obviously it's a lot easier today but I just felt like I had one of those days where I was always in between clubs and that's not great out here.

"They had the pins a little tougher today than they did yesterday and it just felt like I couldn't get close to the hole and I didn't putt as well as yesterday."