Owen and Allenby set the pace

England’s Greg Owen and number one Australian Robert Allenby both shot stunning second rounds of 64 to set the clubhouse target at 11-under-par at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth.

The pair began the day five shots off the pace but, with overnight leader Ernie Els on course and struggling a little, they leapt to the top of the leaderboard.

Australian Andre Stolz reached halfway with a pair of 68s to sit third on eight under, while defending champion Retief Goosen bounced back from his opening-day struggles with a seven-under-par 65.

The South African eagled the par-four 14th on Thursday to scrape an even-par opening round, but sunk seven birdies in a faultless round to jump the leaderboard.

He finished level with Terry Price, who picked up just one shot from his outing while Sergio Garcia reached halfway on level par after a two-under round of 70.

Owen, who finished in the top 40 of the European Order of Merit for the last three years, sunk seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five 15th.

After pulling out of the Heineken Classic with a bad back and missing the cut at last week’s ANZ Championship, Owen was delighted by his showing at the Lake Karinyup Country Club.

“I was a lot more consistent,” he said. “I’ve driven the ball well the last couple of weeks but the iron play has been off.

“I’ve just found a feeling in my swing which seems to get it going in the right direction.

“I’ve just got to trust it now and keep trusting it. I don’t see why it should be a problem for the weekend.

“It’s nice to get a couple of good rounds under my belt.”

Owen was equally pleased with his putting, which often misfires on Australia’s quicker greens.

“Australia has never been a good place for me,” he said.

“The greens are a lot quicker than we are used to at home and I like spending my winter at home.

“Coming out and putting on quick greens doesn’t do the heart very much good. It is nice to have a good feel on the greens this week.”

Allenby teed off on the 10th and reached the turn in a faultless 33, before carding birdies on the third, fourth and fifth to surge on to 10 under.

The 31-year-old picked up his final birdie on the last to join Owen on 11-under-par.

Nick Dougherty picked up six shots to finish the day on five-under-par, level with compatriot Warren Bennett, Sweden’s Niclas Fasth and New Zealander David Smail.

Els, meanwhile, dropped back to minus seven with a bogey on the par-five third after finding the water down the left side of the fairway.

Paul McGinley was three under after four holes to join Stolz on eight under, while Justin Rose and Paul Casey each picked up two early shots to move on to six-under and three-under respectively.

Denmark’s Soren Hansen, however, was disqualified from the tournament after failing to turn up for his 9am tee-off.

Hansen had shot a five-over-par 77 in the first round and joined Ahmad Dan Bateman in being disqualified after the Canadian signed a wrong scorecard for his first round.

Bateman signed for a four on the par-four fourth instead of a five, and as a result, entered a scored of three-over-par 75 instead of a 76.

Wayne Riley withdrew from the tournament with a bad back after his opening round of 78.