Three-time winner Cam Smith and his compatriot Elvis Smylie lead a strong home contingent after the delayed second round of the BMW Australian PGA Championship, while Gary Hurley’s efforts came up just short and he’ll not feature in the final round.
The Waterford man battled back bravely in glorious sunshine on Saturday after heavy downpours at Royal Queensland Golf Club forced play to be abandoned on Friday, with the tournament now reduced to 54-holes. Playing in the first group out in the morning, Hurley birdied the first, seventh and ninth holes with a lone bogey coming at eight for an outward 34 that breathed fresh life into his hopes of making the cut.
Two further birdies on 11 and 12 gave him a real fighting chance, but he couldn’t pick up any further strokes over the closing seven and when all was said and done, with 24 players finishing tied for 49th at -2, Hurley’s one-under tally left him just the wrong side of the mark and he now heads for Melbourne and Kingston Heath Golf Club for next week’s ISPS HANDA Australian Open.
Smith triumphed at this event in 2017, 2018 and 2022, and the 150th Open Champion carded a brilliant 65 which yielded seven birdies and one dropped shot, while Smylie mixed six gains and two bogeys in his 67 to join Smith on -10 and top a leaderboard dominated by Australian stars.
“It was a bit better day today,” Smith said afterwards, “which always puts a smile on your face and yeah, obviously the golf was pretty good as well. Started really solid and kind of kept it going the whole way through. Maybe a few errant shots there at the end, but you kind of expect that throughout round of golf. So yeah, pretty solid, all in all.
“It will be a lot of fun (potentially playing with Leishman on Sunday). Obviously Leish and I are really good mates and really good competitors as well. We play against each other in most practice rounds as well, so it’ll be a really fun time.
“It’d be nice (to win again). I’d like to think this is my home event. This tournament’s always been really nice to me and it’s always really nice to be in contention here. I feel like obviously the crowd is behind me here and lots of good family and friends out here as well cheering me on, so it’s a really cool environment for me, which is probably why I’ve played so well. But at the same time, you’ve got to go out and do it, I suppose. So yeah, looking forward to tomorrow.”
Marc Leishman is their closest rival at nine under, with David Micheluzzi – who earned his DP World Tour card for 2024 via the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit – at eight under, alongside the only overseas player inside the top five, South African Aldrich Potgieter.
Potgieter made a blistering start with three birdies in his opening three holes and picked up further shots at the fifth, seventh and ninth to reach the turn in a blemish-free 30 and sit three clear at ten under.
But he dropped back with bogeys at the 10th and 18th, while Smith recorded three birdies and one bogey on the back nine, and Smylie went one better with four birdies – including a crucial gain on the last – to separate themselves from the chasing pack.
Englishman Matt Southgate, Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach and Ben Eccles are three off the lead at seven under. Spaniard Ivan Cantero and South African Ryan van Velzen are one shot further back alongside six Australians: Jason Day, Cam Davis, Matias Sanchez, Lincoln Tighe, Harrison Crowe and Jack Buchanan.
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