Adam Scott roared right back into Australian Open contention, firing a sizzling five-under second round to climb within one shot of the tournament lead.

Having wobbled through a three-over opening round on Thursday - which was punctuated by an out-of-character five-over on his outward nine - the former world No.1 was back at his peerless best on Friday.

The 34-year-old signed for a bogey-free 66, scrambling hard on his inwards nine with a number of exquisite chips and faultless putting.

Scott is two-under for the tournament, one shot adrift of leaders Jordan Spieth and new dad Aron Price, who will complete his second round on Friday afternoon.

"Yesterday I got off to a bad start and in the wind it was tricky," Scott said. "I didn't scramble when I had to early in the round yesterday and it was slipping away from me.

"Today it didn't start much better to be honest, I was scrambling but I scrambled well and then all of a sudden a couple of good shots down 14, I make an eagle and momentum's on your side then."

Such was Scott's plight after the first round, Australian Open officials were reluctant to even entertain the thought of the 2013 US Masters champion's showdown with Rory McIlroy not even making the weekend.

But after Scott crafted an eagle on the par five 14th hole, his fifth for the day, they never had any need to worry about one of their two drawcards not making the cut as he made the most of the benign conditions at The Australian.

He birdied two of his final three holes on his opening nine and then rolled in an uphill putt from off the green on the sixth to make amends for an undercooked approach.

Asked about the comparisons to McIlory mowing down Scott on the final day to win the Stonehaven Cup last year after a poor opening round, the Australian said: "I didn't really think about that but I guess when you've played a lot of golf tournaments you know there's a long way to go over 72 holes and I played such a great round last year, that gap can close over the next 54 and that's exactly what happened.

"That's the position I find myself in, I'm going to have to be working the next two days to close the gap of whatever the lead will be tonight and hopefully there are enough holes for me to do that.

By contrast, Scott's playing partner and overnight leader Spieth had a morning he would rather forget, dropping a shot en route to a lacklustre 72.

Spieth carded a four-under 67 in his opening round, but at one stage had tumbled well down the leaderboard on Friday before a birdie-birdie finish hauled him back into a share of the lead.

Spieth's seven-shot buffer from Scott, a man he has modelled himself around on and off the course, was wiped out by the pairing's 13th hole on Friday.

McIlroy (-2) will be the crowd puller when he plays his second round on Friday afternoon.