Jason Scrivener cannot ignore his five-year title drought after carving out the 36-hole lead at the Australian PGA Championship.

And after watching hometown hero Cameron Smith storm through the field on Friday afternoon at Brisbane's Royal Queensland he knows the stern mental test to come.

Scrivener thought things would go differently after a breakthrough NSW Open win in 2017 but admitted putting too much pressure on himself earlier this year to get back to winning ways.

"It just shows it's hard to win (because) I definitely thought it was going to be the start of something," he said after carding a four-under 67 to move to 10 under.

Smith carded a six-under 65 to move to nine-under overall and put the pressure on Scrivener.

"You've got to play pretty flawless golf," Scrivener said of the prospect of winning his second title.

"I've got an opportunity this weekend and I'm looking forward to it.

"It's awesome to see all the crowds ... people have been deprived of Australian golf.

"With Cam and Scotty (Adam Scott) coming home it's going to be a good weekend.

"That's what we all want to work for - just to test it out against the best players.

"It's going to be hard and I'll be nervous, but I'm excited for it."

Scrivener's bogey-free round was not without incident, knifing an approach from 70 metres to within a whisker of the sixth flag to save par after an errant tee-shot.

The European Tour member, born in South Africa but raised in Perth, was three shots clear of the field at one stage.

But Cameron John (65) and Masahiro Kawamura (66) bridged the gap to finish two strokes back.

Two-time winner and world No.3 Smith bogeyed the 17th party hole but birdied the 18th to move into outright second, with a smattering of players still to finish their rounds.