GOLD COAST, 12 Dec 2014 (AFP) - Ormsby shot a five-under-par 67, highlighted by a six-hole run including an eagle and four birdies on his front nine to storm into contention at the third and final Australian major of the season.
Strange, a two-time European Tour winner, joined Ormsby on nine-under when he birdied the last to complete a six-under 66 in the best round of the day.
The pair head into Saturday's third round two shots clear of world number three Scott, who backed up an opening round 68 with a three-under 69 to be in third on seven under.
Ormsby, who once rented a property off the 2013 US Masters champion Scott during their fledging playing days in Europe, said it would be exciting to take on his mate for the tournament's Joe Kirkwood cup.
"It's good, that's what you dream of growing up," Ormsby said.
"There's plenty of guys, Rory (McIlroy) or the guys in America - I played university with Matt Kuchar - you play with them all the time.
"Yes, they are higher ranked players but you do feel a lot more comfortable in their presence because you know them."
Scott's round featured four birdies and a bogey but he said he was feeling happy with his game.
After slow starts at both the Australian Masters and Australian Open, Scott is hopeful his improving form will carry him to a title before he ends his 2014 campaign.
"It's big for me," he said. "Energy levels are getting low and you can see the end of the line but I'm pushing through.
"I'm doing my usual routines and not cutting any corners, I really want to finish off with a win and hang on to a trophy this year."
Leading scores after the second round of the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines (par-72) on the Gold Coast on Friday (Australia unless stated):
135 - Wade Ormsby 68-67, Scott Strange 69-66
137 - Adam Scott 68-69
138 - Boo Weekley (USA) 66-72
139 - Nick Cullen 68-71, Jin Jeong (KOR) 65-74, Kristopher Mueck 71-68, David Smail (NZL) 68-71, Jason Scrivener 73-66, Craig Hancock 68-71
140 - Marc Leishman 69-71, Jake Higginbottom 71-69, Mark Brown (NZL) 71-69
141 - Robert Allenby 72-69, Jun Seok Lee 73-68, Jarrod Lyle 69-72, John Senden 73-68, Alistair Presnell 71-70, Michael Hendry (NZL) 70-71, Geoff Drakeford 73-68, James Marchesani 68-73, Neven Basic 69-72, Ratchapol Jantavara (THA) 69-72
142 - Jason Norris 73-69, Rod Pampling 69-73, Cameron Smith 74-68, Rory Hie (INA) 71-71, Josh Geary (NZL) 70-72, Scott Stallings (USA) 72-70, Greg Chalmers 71-71, Brad Kennedy 69-73, Brendon De Jonge (ZIM) 71-71, Nathan Green 69-73, Matthew Giles 73-69, Peter Cooke 70-72, Steven Jones 72-70
Selected scores:
143 - Garrett Sapp (USA) 75-68, John Young Kim (USA) 72-71
144 - Conrad Shindler (USA) 72-72, Ryan C Carter (USA) 73-71
145 - Panuwat Muenlek (THA) 74-71, Wenyi Huang (CHN) 70-75, Xinyang Li (CHN) 70-75
146 - Hyo-won Park (KOR) 74-72, Devin Daniels (USA) 77-69, Tae-Woo Kim (KOR) 75-71
147 - Tommy Mou (TPE) 76-71, Guowu Zhou (CHN) 73-74
148 - Achi Sato (JPN) 75-73, Martin Kim (ARG) 73-75
149 - Jordan Krantz (CAN) 75-74, Ren Han (CHN) 74-75, Wisut Artjanawat (THA) 74-75
151 - Jin Zhang (CHN) 73-78, Chirat Jirasuwan (THA) 70-81, Michael Im (KOR) 76-75
152 - Jin-ho Choi (KOR) 74-78, Seong K Kim (USA) 82-70, Weiyu Zhu (CHN) 73-79
153 - Geon-ha Kim (KOR) 80-73
154 - Do-hoon Kim (KOR) 77-77, Deuk-hee Park (KOR) 75-79
155 - Zecheng Dou (CHN) 79-76
157 - Minghao Wang (CHN) 77-80
159 - Chenxiao Duan (CHN) 74-85
Final cut made at +0 (144)