Sebastian García leads the Australian PGA Championship, interrupted by storms
Sebastian Garcia’s outstanding performance at the Australian PGA Championship was temporarily halted by inclement weather in Brisbane. The Spanish golfer, in excellent form, was leading with seven under par after 15 holes, with a three-stroke lead over his competitors, when thunderstorms forced a stop to the game.
The event, held at the Brisbane golf course, was affected by heavy rain, leading organizers to ask spectators to leave the venue, with the possibility that play would not resume during the day.García, who was coming to the tournament after a victory in China and two outstanding results in the top five in his last five participations, will seek to extend his lead when play resumes. Although he still has two par-5s to play, the suspension of the tournament may have affected his rhythm.
Other prominent golfers such as Ryan Fox, Wenyi Ding, Tapio Pulkkanen and Anthony Quayle, who had Steve Williams as a caddie, shared the lead in the clubhouse with four under par (67).
Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee were one stroke behind, with rounds of 68.
Cameron Smith, a three-time winner, finished with two under par, as did defending champion Elvis Smylie.
Marc Leishman and Cam Davis were among the afternoon players who were two under par with holes to play.
The tournament also witnessed two holes-in-one, highlighting the one by Kazuma Kobori and Daniel Gale, who won a BMW.
Smith, in his attempt to recover his short game, revealed that he had been working hard. Smith, who woke up at 2:45 a.m. for his round, achieved a 69, two under par.
Smith, who hasn’t won a title in over two years, hopes the hard work he’s put in since returning to Brisbane is paying off. In his Thursday round, he managed 10 one-putts and 26 in total.
I made a lot of good six-to-eight foot putts, but I didn’t make anything outside of that all day, so it was good to see that one go in,” Smith said.
Cameron Smith
Lee lamented the bad luck of his approach to the final hole hitting the flagstick, forcing him to settle for par. Scott, for his part, indicated that his constant focus would be the mode of operation heading into the weekend.
It’s a tough field to make a lot of putts unless you’re putting it close all the time,” Scott said.
