Pieters arrived in Perth battling a virus, and on the eve of the tournament said it would be a mini feat in itself just to make it to the first tee in his opening round.

The world No.79 sat at two-over after 12 holes on Thursday after posting consecutive bogeys.

But after a good night's sleep, Pieters produced the goods in his second round on Friday, posting a six-under 66 to move to eight-under overall.

The World Cup of golf winner shares the lead with Australian Matthew Griffin, Kiwi Ryan Fox, and Thailand's Panuphol Pittayarat.

The quartet are well placed to make the third-round cut of the top 24.

Those 24 players will then battle it out in a series of head-to-head six-hole shootouts on Sunday, with the last man standing crowned the winner of the $1.6 million tournament.

Pieters says he will do his best to keep his momentum going on Saturday.

"I felt better today and it showed in my game and my patience," Pieters said.

"I putted really well, and that was a key today.

"That was tough to take (when I posted consecutive bogeys yesterday). So to be at eight under now is a bonus."

Victorian Griffin shot a five-under 67 in his second round to move to a share of the lead.

Only six of Lake Karrinyup's 18 holes will be used in the match play round on Sunday, and Griffin says he will pay extra attention to them during his third round on Saturday.

"The leaderboard's really tight, so you're going to have to play good golf tomorrow to make sure you get through it," Griffin said.

"It's not going to be a walk in the park. But you do, given the circumstances, you do take a little bit more notice of those holes that will be there on Sunday."

Former US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy missed the cut after shooting a five-over 77 on Friday, taking his overall tally to nine-over.

Ogilvy endured a disastrous year in American in 2018 and moved back to Victoria last month to spend more time with his family.

Rising star Min Woo Lee is lurking dangerously at five-under, while the highest-ranked man in the field - world No.55 Tom Lewis - survived the cut after moving to one-under.

Australian Associated Press