Australia’s Daniel Gale stole the show with a stunning hole-in-one that won him a brand new BMW worth approximately $295,000 as Spain’s Sebastian Garcia leads the Australian PGA Championship at -7 when the first round was suspended by lightning in the area around Royal Queensland on Thursday.
Gale is two shots back at -5, helped massively by his perfect 8-iron at the 154 metre par 3 11th hole, with neither he nor Garcia able to finish their round before an afternoon storm rolled across Brisbane.
New Zealand PGA Tour player Ryan Fox and Australia’s Anthony Quayle are in a four-way share of the clubhouse lead after firing four-under par rounds of 67.
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Quayle turned heads in his first outing as a DP World Tour member by having Tiger Woods’ former caddie Steve Williams on the bag as he peeled off a bogey free round to be joined by Fox, China’s Wenyi Deng and Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen with the clubhouse lead.
Min Woo Lee made two birdies and a eagle in his first nine to send a quick statement, and then parred every hole on his second nine to finish one shot off the lead at -3, where he is joined by a pack of players including Adam Scott.
LEADERBOARD: Live scores
Cameron Smith also posted two birdies across his first six holes, but is a further shot back at -2 as players were permitted to play preferred lies on a course still sodden from wild storms earlier in the week.
Post-round, the 2022 Open champion poked fun at the early tee times in Brisbane with him, Lee and PGA Tour-bound DP World Tour star Marco Penge, who shot one-under par, teeing off at 6am local time.
When asked what was his favourite thing about playing golf in his home city, Smith replied: “Oh geez. Not getting up at 2:45, I can tell you that much. That was crazy.”
“It happens every year, but I think just being at home, I don’t think it’s got anything to do with playing golf,” he continued.
“I think I just have a sense of just being at home, feel comfortable sleeping in my own bed.
“Yeah, lots of familiar faces around, so yeah, it’s just always good to be back.”
Aussies hunting home soil PGA victory | 02:16
Lee was another big name to feel the effects of an early 3.30am alarm, saying: “It’s just one of those things, you have bad sleeps now and then, so it’s not like it’s any different.”
“It is different, but it is what it is and it’s annoying, but they don’t change it. So…” he added.
Scott, meanwhile, admitted he cut is preparation half an hour short because of the early wake-up, and also said that it is “pretty wild” to be rising so early for a round.
“Yeah, I gave myself an extra 30 minutes this morning, 3:30 sounded reasonable. I guess,” the veteran said.
“That’s pretty wild getting up that early to play golf. The good bit is you get kind of nine holes in fairly cool weather and now I can go and have a second breakfast.”
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BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 26: Anthony Quayle of Australia is seen with his caddie Steve Williams ahead of the BMW Australian PGA Championship 2025 at Royal Queensland Golf Club on November 26, 2025 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
TIGER’S EX-CADDIE MAKES INSTANT IMPACT
Meanwhile, Adam Scott’s Masters winning caddie Steve Williams seemed to have the magic touch for Quayle.
The 31-year-old has twice won on the PGA Tour of Australasia, and showed he has the game for the big stage in his sole major appearance with a tied 15th finish at the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews.
Quayle, who earned one of three DP World Tour cards on offer in the local tour last season, said Williams’ effect on his game was instant in the first round.
“I think he’s probably the most positive and clear caddie that I’ve ever worked with,” he said.
“I think he probably has a reputation for being quite intense, but my experience today wasn’t that at all.
“It was just very direct; this is what we need to do here. You think you can do it? Yep, let’s do it then.
“And it was just very, there was no room at all for any sort of doubt at any point. It just didn’t seem to creep into my mind.
“Anytime I did make a little bit of a mistake, it wasn’t like he was jumping on me, What are you doing? It was like, yeah, that’s fine mate, everyone
makes bad swing time to time. Let’s make a good one on the next one. So it was really good.”
The Daily Telegraph reported before the tournament that the legendary looper will also stay on the bag for world No.664 Quayle at next week’s Australian Open.
“I asked him if we could go and get a coffee as I would love to pick his brain,” Quayle told The Daily Telegraph. “He said, ‘bugger that, here’s my number and I’ll come caddie for you’.
“He was really generous with his time and messaged me over the next few weeks when I finished fourth, fourth, second to get one of the DP cards at the end of last (PGA Tour of Australasia) season. He was messaging me throughout those events giving me a few words of advice from afar.
“Afterwards, I thought, ‘I might as well take him up on his offer and asked if he would do these two events’. He said, ‘yes’.”
Scott chasing 3rd Australian PGA title | 00:58
SMITH BACK TO HIS BEST?
Elsewhere, Cameron Smith spoke on Tuesday to media at Suncorp Stadium about his desire to get back to his old “cruisy” ways in his preparation after a difficult year in which he missed the cut in all four majors.
The 32-year-old said after Thursday’s opening round that he could already feel the benefits.
“I think I’ve had one day off and I actually haven’t hit a lot of balls, doing a lot of chipping and putting,” Smith said.
“I’ve been trying to get back into that part of my game, getting comfortable with that and definitely showed today, I mean I didn’t hit it my greatest today and really stuck in there and holed a few nice parts. So that was good to see the work paying off a little bit.”
MINJEE’S RESPONSE TO ALL-TIME STITCH UP
Lee, who won his first professional event in the United States at the Houston Open earlier this year, also attracted attention in the lead-up to the tournament with his acceptance speech on behalf of sister Minjee, who claimed the Greg Norman Medal for a fourth time on Thursday night.
Min Woo’s speech was a complete stitch-up of his typically humble, three-time major winning sister, and he revealed her reaction to the viral video.
“She laughed. She laughed. The video doesn’t do it justice,” he said.
“Everyone was laughing at the place, but it didn’t get the laugh. So yeah, I think the people that know it was funny.”
Minjee Lee’s brother accepts medal | 00:54
AUSSIES TO WATCH OUT FOR
LIV Golf star Marc Leishman and PGA Tour player Cam Davis are both -2 with three holes remaining in their opening round when play was suspended for the day.
Defending champion Elvis Smylie made a promising start, shooting a two-under par round in a star-studded group alongside Adam Scott and Ryan Fox.
Jeff Guan, who spoke to foxsports.com.au on the horror eye injury that nearly ended his career, ended the round +1 but almost holed out for an ace at the party hole.
Curtis Luck, who earned a place at this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush after finishing as runner-up at last year’s Australian Open, is among the early contenders at -3.
Ripper GC’s Matt Jones shot an even par round, while past champion and former LIV golfer Jed Morgan is +2.
INTERNATIONAL RAID
Three of the four clubhouse leaders from the morning group at internationals in a tournament traditionally dominated by the locals.
Kiwi Ryan Fox is gunning to become the first golfer from across the Tasman to win the Australian PGA in 29 years ago, and appeared refreshed having had a two-month break from tournament golf following the PGA Tour season and a few appearances in Europe.
“The legs are a little tired,” he said post-round.
“It was good. I actually played really nice today, to be honest.
“Probably left a little bit out there on the greens, but holed a couple of nice ones as well and drove it good. Hit my irons pretty good.
“A couple of scruffy chips here and there. But yeah, all in all really happy.”
One shot off the lead are Alex Fitzpatrick, brother of major winner and Ryder Cup player Matt, and Spanish pair David Puig and Jose Luis Ballister, who made headlines earlier this year for urinating in Rae’s Creek during his Masters debut as an amateur.
It did not take long a hole-in-one to be made as New Zealand’s Kazuma Kobori aced the party hole par 3 17th. The talented 24-year-old ended the day at -2.
LIV Golf star Joaquin Niemann was in the afternoon group and was -1 after 15 holes when the lightning intervened.
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