Queensland golfer Adam Blyth has credited his girlfriend fill-in caddy after storming to the halfway lead at the NSW Open in Sydney.
Blyth's nine-birdie, bogey-free nine-under-par 63 on Friday catapulted the 35-year-old to 16 under for the championship at Stonecutters Ridge.
After starting the day three shots off the pace, Blyth soared past record-equalling first-round leader Brett Coletta to be in sight of the biggest win of his pro career.
Without a caddy, the world No.605 turned to his partner Nicole for the first two rounds before his father takes Blyth's bag for the weekend.
He said he'd rarely been more relaxed on a course.
"Nicole has been the secret weapon," Blyth said.
"It's great having her around. She does all the food and nutrition and gets all of this ready for me.
"She says all the right things out there, keeps me calm. She doesn't talk about what a normal caddy would talk about. We are having a good laugh.
"Dad will be here tonight to finish the weekend off. I am sure she will be giving him a bit of banter on how good she is."
Blyth is two strokes clear of Canberra's Matthew Millar, who backed up his opening 64 with a 66 on Friday to be 14 under.
Peter Wilson is outright third at 13 under after a 66, one ahead of fellow Victorian Rory Bourke (69) and West Australian Jason Scrivener (66).
Coletta remains at 10 under after being unable to reproduce his course record-equalling 62 on Thursday in the young amateur's bold bid to become the first player since Greg Norman 30 years ago to win the Queensland and NSW Open titles back to back.
The 20-year-old is playing alongside veteran Robert Allenby, who made the cut at six under with rounds of 70 and 68.
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