BRISBANE, Australia — The second spherical of the BMW Australian PGA Championship was washed out Friday as a result of rain and an unplayable course and the match has been shortened to 54 holes.
Officers for the Australasian PGA Tour and DP World Tour occasion made the announcement greater than 5 hours after the primary group was scheduled to tee off at Royal Queensland.
There had been about 1 inch of rain in a single day Thursday, including to the 8 inches that had hit the course earlier within the week. Rain started falling closely once more on the course as the choice was made to desert Friday’s play and cut back the match to 3 rounds.
Organizers have been hampered by the truth that Queensland state, the place the match is being performed, doesn’t function on daylight time, which means play past 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. was not potential.
The climate forecast for the weekend was for improved situations.
Australian 22-year-old Elvis Smylie, son of former tennis professional Liz Smylie, led after the primary spherical with a 6-under 65. He had a one-stroke lead over French participant Victor Perez, Australian Matias Sanchez, Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach and Chile’s Cristobal Del Photo voltaic, who birdied 4 of his final 5 holes on a soggy course on Thursday afternoon.
Native drawcards and main winners Cameron Smith and Jason Day, in his first Australian occasion in seven years, have been two pictures behind Smylie after 67s.
Min Woo Lee, who gained final yr’s match at Royal Queensland, shot 68 and was three strokes off the lead. Lee, Day and Smith have been in the identical group Thursday.
The Australian PGA is the primary occasion of the 2025 European tour season.
Lots of the identical gamers will journey to Melbourne subsequent week for the Australian Open, additionally on the European Tour, which is being performed concurrently with the Girls’s Australian Open at famed Sandbelt programs Kingston Heath and Victoria.
