Brett Rankin takes midway second-round lead at the Australian PGA at Royal Queensland

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.