BRISBANE, Australia (AP) \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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<\/a> after the first round, had a 72 Friday and was in a tie for fifth.<\/p>\n Marc Leishman, who shot 68, was also in the group at 7-under along with fellow Australian Cameron Davis (67), two strokes behind Rankin. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a good solid couple of days,\u201d Davis said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a side of the draw that really looks like it was easier than the other. So we\u2019ll see how that plays out with the course as it dries up a little bit today. It was really wet this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n Marco Penge<\/a>, who won three times on the European tour this year and is the tournament\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> the Race to Dubai title.<\/p>\n McIlroy will highlight the field in next week\u2019s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne beginning Dec. 4.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n