The PGA of Australia will play 54 holes after the second round was washed out

BRISBANE, Australia — The second round of the Australian PGA Championship was washed out on Friday by rain and an unplayable course with the tournament shortened to 54 holes.

Event officials from the Australasian PGA Tour and the European Tour made the announcement more than five hours after the first group was scheduled to meet at Royal Queensland.

There was 25 millimeters (one inch) of rain on Thursday night, adding to the 200 millimeters (eight inches) that fell earlier in the week. It started raining again on this course as the decision was taken to stop the Friday game and the competition was reduced to three rounds.

The organizers were disturbed by the fact that the state of Queensland, where the tournament is played, does not work during the day, which means that playing beyond 6 pm or 6:30 pm was not possible.

The weather forecast for the weekend was for improving conditions.

22-year-old Australian Elvis Smylie, son of former tennis champion Liz Smylie, led after the first round with a 6-under 65. He was one stroke ahead of French player Victor Perez, Australian Matias Sanchez, Joel Girrbach of Switzerland and Cristobal Del Solar of Chile, who bogeyed four of the last five holes on a soggy Thursday afternoon.

Local draw cards with major winners Cameron Smith and Jason Day, in his first Australian event in seven years, were two shots behind Smylie after a 67.

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 on the same team 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, and on the European Tour, which is being played at the same time as the Women’s Australian Open at the famous sand belt courses Kingston Heath and Victoria.