DEFENDING CHAMPION CAMERON Smith was close to tears and called it “unacceptable” after missing the cut by nine shots at the Australian PGA Championship on Friday, as Min Woo Lee vaulted into the halfway lead.
On a day highlighted by Curtis Luck firing a hole-in-one, former world number two Smith slumped to a horror 78 which left him nine-over-par and 21 shots off the pace in front of his home crowd in Brisbane.
“Australia has been so good to me, there’s no reason to perform like that. Unacceptable,” said Smith, the 2022 British Open champion.
Now playing on the lucrative Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour, the Australian struggled for control off the tee to make just one birdie, with a bogey at the last summing up his day.
In contrast, compatriot Lee rattled off six birdies against one bogey in a five-under-par 66 to be 12-under for the tournament after round two at the opening event of the DP World Tour’s 2024 season.
Veteran Adam Scott went one better with a 65 to be a shot adrift at the Royal Queensland Golf Club as he targets a 32nd title of his career.
Ireland’s Conor Purcell was among the best performers across the second round, carding eight birdies in a four-under round of 67. He is in a tie for 21st place. Tom McKibbin carded a second-straight even-par 71 to sneak inside the cut line, but a four-over round of 75 saw Mark Power miss the cut.
– © AFP 2023, with reporting by Gavin Coooney
