The second round of the BMW Australian PGA Championship has been completed smoothly and has left us with a clear conclusion. To win the tournament this Sunday, you will have to defeat an Australian. That’s it. That’s what the leaderboard dictates at the moment.
Australians Cameron Smith (-10) and Elvis Smylie (-10) share the lead, with a one-shot advantage over fellow Australian Marc Leishman (-9) and two over, of course, another Australian David Micheluzzi (-8) and the only guest at this Aussie festival, South African Aldrich Potgetier (-8). Asturian Iván Cantero (-6) is in ninth place, four shots off the lead. He has a chance of victory, although it will obviously require a spectacular round on the final day.
The second conclusion from the events at the Royal Queensland Golf Club is that one draw has clearly benefited compared to another. We rely on pure mathematics. Of the top eight players, seven played on Thursday morning and this afternoon. The exception is Matthew Southgate (-7). Meanwhile, of the top 16, all those in the top 10, four belong to the unlucky draw and twelve to the more fortunate one. Could it be said it was three times easier? Maybe that’s too much, but no one will argue it was less than double.
The stubborn fortune has meant that all the Spaniards, the seven who started this BMW Australian PGA Championship, went out to play in the unlucky draw. It’s hard for that to happen. But it did. Given the circumstances, much credit to Cantero. His chances of victory have become complicated, but tomorrow he will compete at least on equal terms with everyone. He was the second-best from his draw in the first 36 holes. We’ll see what he’s capable of doing in the early hours.
It’s very reasonable to think that Smith is the big favourite to defend a title he won two years ago, shortly after announcing his signing with LIV Golf after winning the Open Championship at St Andrews. Today he didn’t even have to rely excessively on his proverbial skill on the greens. He hit very good shots and left them quite close to achieve that magnificent figure of seven birdies.
However, watch out for Elvis Smylie, a 22-year-old who didn’t falter today. It will be interesting to see what happens in the third and final round (the tournament was reduced to 54 holes because golf couldn’t be played on Friday due to rain), considering he will play shoulder to shoulder with Smith and Leishman, surely two of his childhood idols. It’s not the same to face the challenge when you don’t see your high-profile rivals as when you share the walk with them.
The playing conditions in the afternoon didn’t worsen, quite the opposite. The wind barely caused any trouble, which was to the detriment of Joel Moscatel (-1). The Catalan golfer, who handed in his card thinking he might have a chance to play two more days, was ultimately cut out. Just by one shot.
Very close to missing out was also Min Woo Lee (-2), the defending champion. He finished with two bogeys on 17 and 18 and was on the edge. He could be one of the highlights of the third and final round coming from behind.
