The Australian fired a two-under-par 70 at Imperial Klub Golf for a two round total of 11-under-par 133.
He leads by two shots from compatriot Matthew Griffin, who came in with a 69.
Millar shot a course record 63, which featured 10 birdies, on the first day in what is OneAsia’s season opening tournament.
Said Millar: “It was alright but I did not play that well today to be honest. I had some loose shots here and there. For some reason it is very hard to follow a really low round with another one. You’d think you would be able to follow up by shooting at least three under but I am not disappointed with two under. I holed some good putts again.”
The 34 year old made four birdies and two bogeys to put himself in a great position to produce his finest tournament performance since turning professional in 2002.
“It is in the front of my mind to try and win all the time. I have won many one, two and three day events but never a four round tournament. I have come very close with seconds, thirds, and fourths. It would be great to finally get the monkey off the back,” he added.
Griffin is also looking for his first win as a professional.
“I gave myself a heap of chances and should have finished a lot lower. I am really disappointed to finish bogey, bogey. I three putted eight and on nine I hit in the water off the tee,” said Griffin.
The Australian, who turned professional in 2008 finished second in the Victorian Open this year which was first event of the season in Australia.
One of the highlights of the week so far has been the performance of young Indonesian Rory Hie. He is in joint third place with China’s Wu Ashun.
Hie, aged 22, fired his second 68 on a course where he won his first title as a professional The International Championship on the ASEAN PGA Tour in 2008. He is three strokes behind Millar.
“I always have good vibes coming here. I also finished second here last year in a local event when I shot 12 under and I shot 10 under when I won here. The rough is a little bit higher and the greens a bit faster this week. I am feeling very comfortable and feel like I know the course better than anyone out there. I have prepared very well for this event. I think it is the best I have prepared for any event,” said Hie, who played college golf for the University of Southern California.
After struggling to find his feet as a member of the paid ranks he is slowly starting to put the results together.
“I am playing well this year and have finished under par in the events I have played in. When I turned pro I had it too easy for me. I have had to build my character over the last few years and realise that this is my job and I have to be professional. I didn’t realise that and I have worked and worked on it. It is coming together now. It has required a whole life style change,” added Hie.
Wu is another youngster impressing this week after returning a 67.
The 25 year old said: “I am satisfied with my game today. I play pretty well these two days, but it could have been better if not for the two bogies that I made - that were bad judgement. OneAsia is very supportive of Chinese players and it is a stage that allows us to play with better players. It is good exposure for players from China.”
His illustrious compatriot Liang Wenchong, the pre tournament favourite who won the OneAsia Order of Merit last year with two victories, shot a 67 to sit on the shoulder of the leader four shots back.
“OneAsia’s tournament season starting in March meant I could I take a break. Being well rested gave me time to fine tune my routine and improve my game. I am really focused right now ,” said Liang, whose brother Liang Wenjian is caddying for him.
The Indonesia PGA Championship will be showcased on OneAsia's television platform with live coverage for four hours a day across all four tournament days, and broadcast to over 400 million homes in more than 40 countries.
Full coverage of OneAsia is available internationally on ESPN Star Sports, Jupiter Golf Network, SBS Golf Channel, Fox International, Network Ten, Sky Sports NZ, ESPN3 in the USA, and ViaSat and Bloomberg Television among others in Europe.
Leading second round scores:
(Par 72)
133 – Matthew Millar (AUS) 63-70
135 – Matthew Griffin (AUS) 66-69
136 – Rory Hie (INA) 68-68, Wu Ashun (CHN) 69-67
137 – Liang Wenchong (CHN) 70-67, Hong Soon-sang (KOR) 68-69, Heath Reed (AUS) 69-68, Andre Stolz (AUS) 67-70
138 – Rohan Blizard (AUS) 69-69, Paul Sheehan (AUS) 69-69, Lee Tae-hee (KOR) 70-68, Hiroshi Iwata (JPN) 67-71, Alistair Presnell (AUS) 71-67, Michael Long (AUS) 68-70
Selected:
139 – Nicholas Fung (MAS) 70-69, Stephen Leaney (AUS) 70-69, Bora Burhan (INA) 69-70
140 – Bae Sang-moon (KOR) 71-69, Michael Hendry (NZL) 70-70
141 – Peter O’Malley (AUS) 73-68, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 71-70
143 - I Nengah Dharma (INA) 73-70, Ilyassyak (INA) 72-71, Maan Nasim (INA) 69-74
Missed the cut (144/Par):
146 - Denny A Wijaya (INA) 71-75
147 - Andik Mauludin (INA) 73-74, Sarmilih KZ (INA) 75-72
148 - Benny Kasiadi (INA) 74-74
149 - Ramadhan Alwie (INA) 74-75
150 - Sandro Bernard (INA) 74-76
151 - Hamzah Rachmadi (INA) 72-79, Abrahamsyah (INA) 73-78
152 - A Suganda (INA) 79-73, Sanusi (INA) 76-76, Junaidi Ibrahim (INA) 75-77, Gunawan (INA) 78-74, Zulharmen Tabusalla (INA) 80-72
153 - Jamel (INA) 78-75, Nasin Surachman 76-77, Effendi K (INA) 78-75
154 - Henry Nasim (INA) 75-79, Khamid MH (INA) 76-78, Asep Caprie (INA) 79-75, Hardjito (INA) 76-78, Ade Sebul (INA) 77-77
155 - Indra Hermawan (INA) 77-78
156 - Dede Idris (INA) 79-77
160 - Randy Mawuntu (INA) 81-79
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