If this is to be the final time the Australian PGA Championship is played in Queensland, Brisbane boy Cam Smith intends to make sure he’s the winner.
The three-time PGA champion opened his latest assault on the Joe Kirkwood Cup with a two-under 69 at Royal Queensland to be five strokes adrift of Spaniard Sebastian Garcia, who was at seven-under after 15 holes when players were forced off the course about 3.10pm (local time) due to inclement weather.
Sydney’s Daniel Gale, who aced the par-three 11th to win a $295,000 BMW, was at five-under after 12 holes when play was halted.
“To win a prize (for a hole-in-one) is pretty surreal,” Gale said.
“I was feeling pretty good. I like this golf course, and the biggest thing for me was straight after the hole-in-one I reset, on to the next and I made a nice birdie on 12.”
Players did not return to the course, with play officially called off for the day at 4.20pm.
Of those who had completed their rounds, Ryan Fox (New Zealand), Anthony Quayle (Australia), Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland) and Wenyi Ding (China) were the best at four-under.
A host of players, including fellow Australian stars Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee, were also ahead of Smith at three-under.
However, the 2022 British Open champion was satisfied with his first-round effort, which included 26 putts, in his pursuit of his first victory since the LIV Bedminster event in August 2023.
“That was good – I hit a lot of good putts,” said Smith, whose round included four birdies and two bogeys.
“Conditions were good. I feel like the greens are firmer and faster than they’ve ever been.
“I’ve been doing a lot of chipping and putting. I’ve been trying to get back into it with that part of my game, getting comfortable with that, and it definitely showed today.
“It was good to see the work pay off a little bit.”
Smith’s form slump, coupled with LIV events not counting towards world ranking points, has resulted in him dropping to No.345 in the world.
If that’s not enough of a reason for Smith wanting to return to the winner’s circle this week, another motivating factor is the uncertainty over where the Australian PGA will be played next year.
It won’t be at Royal Queensland, with upgrading work set to start on the course ahead of hosting the men’s and women’s events at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
There is a possibility that the PGA might move interstate in 2026.
“I want to win. I want to win every tournament I play in, but this one in particular has been really good to me,” Smith said.
“Being in Brisbane, I don’t know how much longer the tournament’s going to be here. It’s a bit up in the air at the moment.
“It’d be nice to go out on a win if it’s the last time here.”
Smith played alongside Lee (three-under) and the highest-ranked player in the field, Englishman and world No.30 Marco Penge, who defied a neck problem to shoot a one-under 70.
“I started well, which was nice,” Lee said.
“The course was playing pretty good.”
Scott was described his 68 as “solid”.
“I made some nice putts, but it wasn’t really a round where I gained a lot of momentum,” the 2013 Masters champion said.
Fox, a two-time winner this year on the PGA Tour, was pleased with a 67 in his first round of tournament golf in two months.
“I probably left a little bit out there on the greens, but holed a couple of nice ones as well and drove it good (and) hit my irons pretty good … all in all really happy,” Fox said.
Defending champion Elvis Smylie overcame a double-bogey on the par-four 16th to finish at two-under.
The morning’s play included a hole-in-one from New Zealand golfer Kazuma Kobori on the par three 17th “Party Hole”, where he produced a 118m ace with a pitching wedge.
“It was great … good timing for the ace,” said Kobori, who finished the round at two-under.
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