Andrew 'Beef' Johnston surged 24 places up the leaderboard at the Austrian Alpine Open on Friday to take a one-shot lead heading into the weekend, following a sensational eight-under par 62, the lowest score of the day, at Golfclub KitzbĂĽhel-Schwarzsee-Reith.
The 37-year-old posted a flawless round that included eight birdies to move to 11 under par heading into the weekend and one shot clear of a chasing pack that includes Rafa Cabrera Bello, Calum Hill and Kaneko Kota, who trail him on 10 under.
It was the first time since the had posted a score of 62, with Johnston, who is looking to end a 10-year trophy drought on the DP World Tour, crediting yoga for helping him surge back to form.
Injuries have prevented him from making a continuous run of starts on the DP World Tour in recent years.
Johnston, who last won on the DP World Tour at the 2016 Open de Espana, made just one appearance in 2025 and revealed last year in a column with that he had suffered a complete ligament tear of his thumb.
However, he has surged back into form this season, with the 37-year-old having now posted nine-straight under-par scores following his second round in KitzbĂĽhel.
"With the injury, I looked at stuff that I could personally sort of be better at, and I started going back into the gym, and I felt really compressed," Johnston said to the DP World Tour following his round.
"There's a nice little coffee shop in Perth next door, and there's a yoga place next door and I was like: 'Do you know what? I'm just going to wander in and have a look in, ask a few questions.' And I found this yoga teacher, and she has been brilliant.
"I just think my body's been a lot more flexible, day-to-day, I'm feeling better, and when I came back, I hadn't seen Goughy [his coach Jamie Gough] for a year.
"He just said: 'You're moving so much better and the club's in such a better position' and I think it's a big part to do with that."
Scottish golfer Callum Hill has also enjoyed a bright start to his week in Austria, posting back-to-back scores of five-under par, notably going seven-under through his front nine holes following an eagle on the ninth, before he slumped at the end of his round, carding bogeys on 16 and 17.
Despite that, he joined Cabrera Bello and Kaneko in second place heading into the weekend.
The world's best disabled golfer, Kipp Popert, who is , enjoyed a much better day in KitzbĂĽhel, going one-under par for his second round with a score of 69.
After shooting a five-over-par 75 in his first round, Popert got off to a flying start on Friday, going two under through his opening three holes with birdies on one and three.
He nearly eagled the eighth hole, sending a brilliant chip from around 100 yards out at the pin, with his ball just lipping out on the edge of the cup. Popert tapped in for par, but his hard work was undone on the ninth, where he made another bogey.
The Englishman would play out his back nine at level par, with two birdies and two bogeys. He would, though, miss the cut after posting a 36-hole score of four over par.
Hometown hero Sepp Straka ended his day with a four-under 66, to move to tied for 11th on the leaderboard with a score of seven under par.
"Felt like I drove the ball incredibly and hit the ball really well," he said.
"Wedges, I felt like I hit a lot of good wedges. I felt like I couldn't hit a lot of holes today, the pins were pretty tucked today.
"I had a lot of putts that were in that range where it's pretty tough to make, especially late in the afternoon. Not too happy with my putter, but it bailed me out late in the afternoon.
"It was special," Straka added.
"The crowds have been incredible all week. It was really special to have a good round for them today."
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