Japanese-born New Zealander takes lead after 2 rounds of the Australian PGA golf tournament

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Japanese-born New Zealander Kazuma Kobori finished his round with four consecutive birdies for an 8-under 63 Friday to take a one-stroke lead into the third round of the Australian PGA Championship.

Kobori, who won the 2019 New Zealand PGA Championship, had a two-round total of 10-under 132 at Royal Queensland. He had a hole-in-one during his first round.

Australian Brett Rankin, who shot 69 Friday, was among a group tied for second. Rankin completed his first round earlier in the day due to a thunderstorm suspension on Thursday.

Sebastian Garcia of Spain, who led Rankin by one stroke after the first round, had a 72 Friday and was three strokes behind.

Marco Penge, who won three times on the European tour this year and is the tournament’s highest-ranked player at No. 30, shot 65 Friday and was also three strokes off the lead.

Former British Open champion and LIV Tour regular Cameron Smith shot 75 and missed a seventh straight cut.

“I don’t know, I just don’t know. I was so confused,” Smith, who was playing in his home state of Queensland, said. “I was feeling good, really confident and just couldn’t get anything going.”

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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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf