Rookie Brett Coletta has demonstrated his pedigree as Australia's next US PGA Tour star with two gutsy rounds at the Memorial Tournament in Columbus, Ohio.
While the 20-year-old is a long way back from the lead, Coletta has ensured he will bank a first cheque on Tour with a solid two-day effort putting him within striking distance of a life-changing result.
Upstaging better-known countrymen Adam Scott and Jason Day, Coletta backed up his opening 72 at Muirfield Village with a three-under-par 69 to sit well inside the projected cutline of two-over.
The Victorian, who missed the cut at his Tour debut at Pebble Beach Pro Am in February, sits 11 shots back of leader Jason Dufner.
Dufner, the 2013 US PGA Championship winner, carded a second consecutive 65 to climb to 14 under - earning the American a six-shot cushion over world No.12 Rickie Fowler (66) at six-under.
In October Coletta became he first amateur to win the professional Queensland Open since Stuart Appleby triumphed in 1991.
And the Melbourne export is taking a business-as-usual approach in stepping up to the most competitive golf circuit in the world.
"I'm not letting the occasion faze me. There were nerves on first tee during the opening round, and this morning, but I use it to my advantage because I think it gives you a sharper focus when you're slightly nervous. I tried to sneak up on the leaderboard at one stage," Coletta told AAP.
Coletta plies his trade on the PGA Tour's third-tier Canadian circuit and is at the Jack Nicklaus-hosted event courtesy of a sponsor's exemption.
As a non-member of the Tour, he is allowed up to seven invitations to events this season but can save those crucial starts by finishing in the top-10 at Memorial, which would afford him a place in the field at next week's FedEx St Jude Classic in Memphis, Tennessee.
"It's outrageous to make my first cut on the PGA Tour; I'm really pleased with myself," said Coletta.
"It'd be fantastic to put another two good rounds and make a run on the weekend but you can't think too much about that."
The Memorial Tournament is in the middle of a whirlwind trip for Coletta, who travelled to Ohio from his Melbourne home before a scheduled visit to Washington State on the American west coast on Monday to attempt to qualify for the US Open.
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