After holding the clubhouse lead for most of the day, Greg Norman was unseated by South Korea's KJ Choi in the second round of the British Open at Royal Birkdale today.
Choi shot a three-under 67 to move to one-under for the tournament ahead of Saturday, when he will be paired with Norman, who is one stroke further back after two even rounds.
Of the 18 Australians who started the tournament, eight made the cut by finishing at nine over or better.
Robert Allenby, the joint first-round leader with American Rocco Mediate and Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, is two over, while Stuart Appleby is three over and Adam Scott is four over.
The other Australians through were Craig Parry and Brendan Jones, both at seven over, Richard Green at eight over and Nick O'Hern at nine over.
At 11 over, world No.3 Geoff Ogilvy missed out.
Norman, aged 53 and playing his first major in three years, said he was keeping his expectations "realistically low".
"I have to be that way too because I can't sit here and say, `okay, it's great, I'm playing well and I'm doing it,'" Norman said.
"I am playing well, I am doing it, but I still haven't been there for a long time."
Colombian Camilo Villegas shot a five-under 65 for his second round to move into third place at one over.
Mediate, McDowell and defending champion Padraig Harrington were all two over.
Scott was hoping to make a third-round charge and set up a pairing with boyhood idol Norman.
"Paired with him in an Open at the weekend would be awesome," world No.4 Scott told reporters.
"I'll have to play well tomorrow and hopefully I'll catch him on Sunday."
Conditions were better than those which greeted the early starters on Thursday.
Although the weather was still cold and windy, there was intermittent drizzle rather than the persistent driving rain that struck the previous round.
Within moments of Norman ending his round, a heavy downpour battered the course but did not last long.
Allenby said the conditions were still tough.
"It felt like there wasn't too many easy holes out there," he said.
"It's just a matter of grinding out and just hanging tough."
Appleby also found the conditions difficult today.
"I dropped a few shots in the front nine, sort of got on a bogey run, steadied the ship and somehow squeezed a couple of birdies out in the last two-and-a-half hours of the day to go in the right direction for a change," he said.
"It is a matter of hanging on.
"You do need to make birdies though, even in these conditions."
