Greg Norman missed the cut in his own event for the second straight year in Sydney, but he refused to move his tournament to another Australian course.
The host of the Greg Norman International stumbled around the Lakes in two-over 75 to finish five over after 36 holes and miss out on the weekend. The cut was made at level par (146).
"Did I miss the cut here last year, really?" Norman joked with journalists after his round of five birdies, three bogeys and two double bogeys.
"I'm not that overly disappointed, to tell you the truth. My head just wasn't in it, but I don't feel concerned about my golf game," said Norman, who turns 45 next week.
"I'm not a big fan of this golf course and the wind here, I didn't feel overly comfortable playing here this week."
He was then asked at his press conference why he held his tournament at the Lakes.
"Just because I'm not happy doesn't mean to say that I'm going to pack my bag and take everyone with me," he said.
"Of course we look at a lot of different places, but I can't say just because I don't feel comfortable on the golf course that I'm not going to play here."
While Norman struggled, David Park is now in a position to make his first visit to Australia a truly memorable one.
While the second round at The Lakes will perhaps be most remembered for a quite amazing round of 63 by local amateur Adam Scott, it is Park who sets the pace.
Rounds of 68 and 65 put the 25-year-old from Hereford, one of the bright new stars of last season, on 13-under-par 133.
He leads Scot Andrew Coltart by two and Australian Lucas Parsons by three in the race for the first prize of nearly £150,000.
Of the three Irish in the field, only Paul McGinley made the cut after adding a 74 to his opening 71. Padraig Harrington missed his second consecutive cut after falling back to a 76, and Gary Murphy was four shots outside the limit after a second 75.
As first-day leaders Gary Emerson and Maarten Lafeber fell away after a 77 and 74 respectively, Coltart's 68 was good enough to move him up from third to second as he pursues a third victory in the Olympic city.
"A win would be unexpected given that last week in Perth was the first time I had played since November," Coltart said. "I'm not expecting anything."
Nineteen-year-old Scott has high hopes, though, after equalling the course record and moving up from 91st to joint seventh.
Three Australian amateurs - Aaron Baddeley, Brett Rumford and Brad Lamb - have already won professional tournaments Down Under this winter and Scott believes he can make that four.
He had six successive birdies from the eighth and followed that run by matching Park's eagle at the 14th. The round, containing two other birdies as well, may well be the lowest ever played by an amateur in a Tour event.
David Duval, Vijay Singh and Notah Begay all fired six-underpar 66s to share the lead in the rain delayed first round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in California. Tiger Woods finished with a 68. Keith Nolan had an up-and-down day and ended with a round of 77 which included five bogeys, one double bogey and two birdies.
