By Murray Wenzel
Cameron Smith and his LIV Golf teammate Marc Leishman made hay when the sun finally shone in Brisbane to set up another Australian PGA Championship shootout.
But first-round leader Elvis Smylie never left the building to ensure it wouldn’t be a two-man show at Royal Queensland on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Gold Coast talent and son of former tennis great Liz bogeyed his first hole and could only watch as Smith and South African prodigy Aldrich Potgieter surged past him.
But the left-hander rallied to close with three birdies on his final five holes, including the last behind a laser-like approach, to draw level with three-time event winner Smith (65) at 10 under thanks to a 67 on Saturday.
Leishman (66), second in this event to his great mate Smith in a 2018 shootout, was a shot back as he eyes his first piece of Australian silverware after rain reduced the event to 54 holes.
Big-hitting 20-year-old Potgieter (67) was the early leader thanks to four birdies on his first five holes.
But he missed a par putt on the last to finish eight-under alongside Australia’s European tour rookie David Micheluzzi (67).
“I didn’t think he was going to run away with it … but you don’t want to make a mistake,” Smith, who birdied three of his first four holes, said of the South African’s early movement.
“This is my home event, this tournament’s always been really nice to me.
“It’s a really cool environment which is probably why I play so well, but you’ve got to go out and do it.”
Jason Day was steady but lamented a poor day with his trusty putter, the returning former world No.1 six under and needing something special in his first Australian appearance in seven years.
Defending champion Min Woo Lee couldn’t find his groove, well back at two under.
Torrential rain meant there was no play on Friday, officials reducing the event to a three-day shootout to mirror the format played on Smith and Leishman’s LIV Tour.
Smylie stayed busy on the day off though and fancies his chances of denying Smith another hometown title.
“Everything is going really well,” he said.
“Every part of my game is in pretty good shape.
“As soon as I was in tricky positions, I did a really good job getting out of it without doing too much damage.”
Leishman went the lowest in Brisbane on Sunday last year and again looms as a threat.
Both he and Smith threatened the pin on the 17th party hole, where a promotional $1 million prize for fans for any ace during the broadcast window went begging.
“We’ve had a few goes around here,” Leishman said of his battles with Smith.
“We still talk about when he bounced off that grate in the middle of a lake [in 2018].
“But that’s what happens when you’re winning.
“Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t [but] I’m playing good enough to win.
AAP
