| -12 M Lee (Aus); -11 A Scott (Aus); -10 J Lyras (Aus); -8 L Herbert (Aus), J Moscatel (Spa), C Luck (Aus) |
| Selected others: -5 F Kennedy (Eng); -4 A Fitzpatrick (Eng), C Purcell (Ire); +5 D Howell (Eng); +9 C Smith (Aus) |
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Defending champion Cameron Smith missed the cut at the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship by nine shots, leaving him close to tears.
The 30-year-old former Open champion carded a second-round 78 to finish nine over in his home city of Brisbane.
Min Woo Lee, who shot a five-under-par 66 to move to 12 under overall, leads fellow Australian Adam Scott by a shot.
“Australia has been so good to me, there’s no reason to perform like that. Unacceptable,” said an emotional Smith.
“I’ve performed under pressure before and it’s not acceptable, a bit upsetting actually. I know what I’m doing, it’s just going out there and committing to something is another thing.”
Smith, who won the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews in July 2022, made a double bogey at the 10th and bogeys on the final two holes at the Royal Queensland Golf Club.
The Australian, who plies his trade on the LIV Golf circuit, agreed he could not remember a worse round as a professional.
“Yeah, no words,” added Smith, who won the Australian PGA in 2017, 2018 and 2022.
Australian compatriot Lee rattled off six birdies in his 66, while former US Masters champion Scott is a shot behind after a 65 which also contained six birdies but, unlike Lee, no dropped shots.
“It’s always nice to have a bogey-free round, I probably haven’t had many of them this year,” Scott said.
“I feel like my swing from the tee to the green is feeling better than it has for a while and that’s a nice thing for me.”
Spaniard Joel Moscatel, who equalled the course record when he shot a 63 in the first round, remains in contention at eight under after a 71.
