Sebastian García Leads Australian PGA Championship, Interrupted by Storms
Spanish Sebastián García was in a dominant position at the Australian PGA Championship, but the Brisbane weather forced the day to be suspended. Garcia, in excellent form, was leading with seven under par after 15 holes, with a three-stroke lead over his competitors, when thunderstorms forced officials to stop play. The spectators were evacuated from the field, and the game was not expected to resume due to the heavy rain. García arrived at the tournament after a victory in China and two top-five finishes in his last five appearances. With two par fives to play, Garcia could have increased his lead when play resumed.
Sebastian Garcia. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images
New Zealander Ryan Fox, China’s Wenyi Ding, Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen and Anthony Quayle, who had Steve Williams as a caddie, shared the lead at the club with four under par (67). Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee, who finished with rounds of 68 strokes, were one stroke away. Cameron Smith, three-time tournament winner, birdied his last hole to finish two under par, as did defending champion Elvis Smylie. Marc Leishman and Cam Davis were among the afternoon players who were stranded at two under par with holes to play. There were two holes-in-one, including Kazuma Kobori’s, and Daniel Gale won a BMW thanks to his effort on the 11th hole. Smith revealed the hard work he has done to recover his short game. Smith, former world number 2 and a major winner, without titles in more than two years, began his Thursday round at 2:45 am and signed a card of two under par (69) to start the $2.5 million event. Smith’s sensational putting and chipping ability shone when he won The Open in 2022, but the Queensland player has been searching for that magic ever since. On Thursday, he made 10 one-putts and 26 in total, and thought that the hard work he had done since returning to Brisbane might be paying off. “I made a lot of good six-to-eight-foot putts, but I didn’t make anything else all day, so it was good to see that one go in,” he said about his birdie on the ninth hole. “I had a day off and didn’t hit many balls. I’ve been doing a lot of chipping and putting, trying to get back to that part of my game, feeling comfortable with that and it definitely showed today.” Lee’s approach to the final hole hit the flagstick with bad luck, forcing him to settle for par. Scott, a two-time winner of the event before it moved to Royal Queensland in Brisbane five years ago, bogeyed his holes 1 and 18. Lee lamented “a good problem” when his precision approach hit the flag, while Scott indicated that his consistent approach would be the mode of operation heading into the weekend. “It’s a difficult course to make a lot of putts unless you’re putting it close all the time,” said Scott, who is seeking his first 72-hole victory since February 2020, about his childhood club. “Once you get away from the hole, the grain changes, breaks, there is a lot of movement. “It’s important not to get frustrated.”
