The latter holds a commanding four shot lead over the chasing pack after Josh Campbell finished the weekend on 148.

The 17-year-old Delaney hit back-to-back scores of 72 (one over par) to clearly state his intentions after he came close in 2010.

Second place Campbell went four over (75) on Saturday, before he improved on that by two shots during yesterday’s second round to finish on 73 for the day.

Fellow youngster Best let himself down with the putter as he went three over (74) and four over (75) to finish the weekend one shot behind Campbell on 149.

“They weren’t too good, it was terrible,” Best said yesterday.

“I just putted really bad and that was about it.

“But now I need to try and fix it.”

Delaney started slowly on both days, but then hit his straps on the back nine both days to post two solid scores.

“Yeah I’m feeling pretty good, I missed a couple of shots out there but I’ll take what I got,” he said after the second round.

“The front nine on both rounds I didn’t start off the best.

“I was three over on the first nine on Saturday, but I came back pretty well on the back nine and shot under par both days.”

The real turning point for Delaney came on the 10th hole on Saturday when a brilliant tee shot set him up about 50 metres from the pin.

A near perfect chip shot then had him only a metre away from the hole and the teenager made no mistake with the putter to birdie.

He then backed up that effort with an incredible 10-metre putt on the par three 11th hole to make consecutive birdies.

Delaney admitted after yesterday’s round that his performances on those two holes gave him the confidence to finish off the weekend in style.

Despite his commanding position, the 17-year-old refused to get too ahead of himself and said the likes of Best still posed a real threat.