Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland poses Race to Dubai trophy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
November 27, 2025 - 3:12 PM
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Australian Brett Rankin moved up a spot from second to first on Friday to take a one-stroke lead midway through the second round of the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland.
Rankin, who completed his first round earlier in the day due to a thunderstorm suspension on Thursday, had a 2-under 69 Friday and a two-round total of 9-under 133.
French golfer Tom Vaillant had a 64 Friday to leave him in an early share of second place. Sebastian Garcia of Spain, who led Rankin by one stroke after the first round, had a 72 Friday and was in a tie for fifth.
Marc Leishman, who shot 68, was also in the group at 7-under along with fellow Australian Cameron Davis (67), two strokes behind Rankin.
“It’s been a good solid couple of days,” Davis said. “I don’t think it’s a side of the draw that really looks like it was easier than the other. So we’ll see how that plays out with the course as it dries up a little bit today. It was really wet this morning.”
Marco Penge, who won three times on the European tour this year and is the tournament’s highest-ranked player at No. 30, shot 70 in his opening round and had a later start Friday, as did Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee.
The tournament is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour of Australia and the European tour, which is starting its 2025-26 season just two weeks after Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai title.
McIlroy will highlight the field in next week's Australian Open at Royal Melbourne beginning Dec. 4.
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