Play abandoned at Australian PGA
The Australian PGA Championship has been reduced to a 54-hole event, with no play possible on Friday due to the Royal Queensland course being flooded.
Second-round play was due to begin at 6am (Queensland time) on Friday, however with the layout unplayable after being deluged with 180mm of rain since last Saturday, the decision was made at 11.30am to abandon play for the day.
The second-round will now start at 6am on Saturday, with the tournament, which will now become a three-round affair, still scheduled to be completed on Sunday.
"We can't thank you enough. To get it in shape is massive, massive credit to them" 🙌
The greenskeeper staff at Royal Queensland have done a fantastic job in keeping the course in great condition after having 133mm since Friday night ☔️#AusPGA | @DavidMicheluzzipic.twitter.com/1Oxjuuc6fv— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 21, 2024
Tournament director Nick Dastey said extending the tournament until Monday had been considered before the decision was made to reduce the event by 18 holes.
“We’ve also got the Australian Open to think about next week,” Dastey said.
“It’s over two golf courses, players have got to be able to get down to Melbourne and prepare for that as well.
“If we were in a situation where we could potentially get the 72 holes done, knowing that there’s a chance that it could go into Monday, then we would have looked at that, and we have looked at that, but we feel that it’s better to cancel that final round and work towards a 54-hole tournament, and go with that model rather than looking at a Monday finish.
“It’s obviously disappointing but it does mean that we’ve got a massive weekend of golf, and more golf played on the weekend than a normal 72-hole event with a full day’s play (on Saturday) and again on Sunday.
“The forecast is reasonable for the weekend. We’re hopeful and confident that we’ll be able to get round two underway (on Saturday) morning, complete round two and have a great final round on Sunday.”
The field of 156 players will be cut to the top 65 and ties after the completion of the second round on Saturday.
Brisbane has been hit with heavy rain this week, with 250mm having hit the Royal Queensland layout since last Friday.
However, play went ahead as schedule on Thursday in round one of the tournament.
The start to Round 2 has been delayed.
There will be no play before 8am local time. A further announcement will be made at 7am.#AusPGApic.twitter.com/6jiyyfli5W— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) November 21, 2024
At the completion of the first round, Gold Coast product Elvis Smylie led the tournament at six-under, one stroke ahead of four players – Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach, Frenchman Victor Perez, Chile’s Cristobal del Solar and Victorian Matias Sanchez.
Eight players – including tournament drawcards Cam Smith and Jason Day – are a shot further back at four-under.
