Varner a man for the morning and casino

Harold Varner III set the earliest alarm of his professional career on Friday, but the 2:45am wakeup at the local casino didn't seem to affect his golf.

Not straight away at least.

After storms washed out the end of Thursday's play, the 26-year-old was among the early starters at 5:30am at Royal Pines to finish the last four holes of his first round.

He birdied his final two holes to grab a share of the Australian PGA Championship lead at the end of the first round with Queenslander Andrew Dodt and Victorian Ashley Hall, and he wasn't ready to whinge about the early wake-up call.

"I'd rather go play a few more hands in blackjack than complain," he said.

"But it gets light here at 4:10 or 4:20am. So it's not cold when you get up, so that obviously helps."

It did make for a quick turnaround though.

Last year's runner-up had little more than an hour to be back on the course for the beginning of his second round, and he only had one idea in mind for how best to prepare.

"End this conversation as soon as possible and go and get some food," he told reporters, before walking out of the media zone.

But it didn't work as well for him as the early alarm at the casino where he is staying.

He hit two double-bogeys to finish the round even, fifth on the leaderboard and five shots off leader Dodt.

"I was just very pissed off because I didn't rebound," he said after his second round," he said.

"I just need to get better and if I do that I know I'm going to have a chance."

He wasn't the only player to wilt at times in the Queensland heat - Friday was forecast to be the hottest December day in Brisbane since 2001.

Not that he made the most of the sunshine with the early finish.

"I'm staying at the casino, so I don't know if I'll be going to the beach," he quipped.

"You all have a great afternoon. I'm going to the casino."