BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The second round of the Australian PGA championship was washed out Friday due to rain and an unplayable course and the tournament has been shortened to 54 holes.
Officials for the Australasian PGA Tour and European Tour event made the announcement more than five hours after the first group was scheduled to tee off at Royal Queensland.
There had been about 25 millimeters (one inch) of rain overnight Thursday, adding to the 200 millimeters (eight inches) that had hit the course earlier in the week. Rain began falling heavily again on the course as the decision was made to abandon Friday’s play and reduce the tournament to three rounds.
Organizers were hampered by the fact that Queensland state, where the tournament is being played, does not operate on daylight time, meaning play beyond 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. was not possible.
The weather forecast for the weekend was for improved conditions.
Australian 22-year-old Elvis Smylie, son of former tennis pro Liz Smylie, led after the first round with a 6-under 65. He had a one-stroke lead over French player Victor Perez, Australian Matias Sanchez, Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach and Chile’s Cristobal Del Solar, who birdied four of his last five holes on a soggy course on Thursday afternoon.
Local drawcards and major winners Cameron Smith and Jason Day, in his first Australian event in seven years, were two shots behind Smylie after 67s.
Min Woo Lee, who won last year’s tournament at Royal Queensland, shot 68 and was three strokes off the lead. Lee, Day and Smith were in the same group Thursday.
The Australian PGA is the first event of the 2025 European Tour season.
Many of the same players will travel to Melbourne next week for the Australian Open, also on the European Tour, which is being played concurrently with the Women’s Australian Open at famed sandbelt courses Kingston Heath and Victoria.
