Burns birdied six of his last eight holes on Friday for a 10-under 62 to get to 17 under and a two-stroke lead over Alex Noren after the second round of the PGA's Byron Nelson tournament.

Noren shot 64 to reach 15 under while KH Lee had his second 65 to be a shot behind. Doc Redman bogeyed two of his last three holes for a 67 that left him 13 under.

JJ Spaun was 12 under, following a first-round 63 that left him tied with Jordan Spieth with a 69.

Spieth shot 70, leaving the local favourite in the group at 11 under that included Matt Kuchar and Charl Schwartzel.

Scoring went up overall along with the wind a day after the new home of the Nelson, the par-72 TPC Craig Ranch north of Dallas, surrendered 94 rounds in the 60s in its debut.

That number dropped considerably in the second round.

Australian Marc Leishman made a 69 to go with his opening 66 to be in a tie for 22nd, eight behind Burns.

The Victorian had four birdies with just one bogey that came surprisingly on the short par-four 14th.

His drive ended short of the green and in the bunker from where his next shot missed the green. He then left his chip short before two putting.

Compatriot Rhein Gibson backed up his opening 66 with a 73 for a five-under 139. With the previous day's high scoring, he missed the six-under cut by one along with Jason Day (69).

Cameron Percy (70) just survived the cut and is the only other Australian playing on the weekend.

But the tougher conditions didn't affect Burns, who is playing for the first time since his first PGA Tour win two weeks ago at the Valspar Championship in Florida.

Before Burns won at Innisbrook, the 24-year-old had twice failed to convert 54-hole leads, in the Houston Open last autumn and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera in February.

Now he has a tour-best five 36-hole leads this season after following a 65 with the lowest round of his career. Burns is trying to become the first to get his first two PGA Tour victories in consecutive starts since Camilo Villegas in 2008.

"The biggest thing for me is just seeing the hard work that we put in it, start seeing results from that," Burns said. "A lot of times you don't know how long the results are going to take.

"It's cool to see some feedback from the progress we've made back home and seeing it in tournament play as well."

Australian Associated Press