Australia's biggest PGA drawcard Cameron Smith was dumped out early in a teary exit - here's why this opens the door for a box office battle between local champions

Aussie golf fans have been robbed of watching two-time winner Cameron Smith after the great local hope failed to make the cut for Saturday, but that has paved the way for a new local rivalry on the links of Royal Queensland Golf Course. 

Smith was highly emotional after grappling with what he deemed the worst round of his professional golf career on Friday.

The defending champion's aspirations crumbled at Royal Queensland on Friday, culminating in tears as he bid farewell to the Australian PGA Championship.

Entering Friday's round already trailing by 10 shots following a lackluster first round of 73, Smith's woes compounded in a nightmarish 18 holes in Brisbane. 

Bogeys haunted him relentlessly, as the hometown hero and tournament drawcard posted a dismal seven-over par 78 in the second round. The struggle included six bogeys and a double bogey on the par-four, 443m 10th hole.

The 2022 British Open champion concluded the tournament at nine-over par, a staggering nine shots adrift of the par cut line. 

In a field of 156 players, only a handful fared worse through the initial two rounds, with Smith trailing a substantial 21 shots behind the leader,  

'It's not acceptable – it's very upsetting actually,' a teary Smith said after missing the cut.

'I'm definitely getting a bit tired towards the end of the year but that's golf, that's not an excuse.

'Australia's been so good to me even when I have been tired so there's no reason to really perform that way.'

When the LIV Golf defector was asked if he could remember a worse round during his professional career, he replied simply 'no'.

Despite Smith's premature exit, the Australian PGA is gearing up for a riveting clash of golf titans as Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee continue to go head-to-head in the third round at Royal Queensland.

Smith's absence has paved the way for an enthralling encounter between the established veteran and the burgeoning talent in Australian golf.

At 43, Scott holds the status of a revered member at Royal Queensland, making him the undisputed crowd favorite. 

On the flip side, 25-year-old Lee, a rising star in the golfing world, commands a substantial following of his own, setting the stage for a captivating showdown between the past and present of Australian golf.   

Lee surged ahead with a second-round 66 on Friday, reaching an impressive 12-under, narrowly edging out Adam Scott, who shot a stellar 65 on Friday following his first-round 66. 

'I think we're excited to play some good golf in front of them and hopefully we can get some roars in the crowd,' Lee said.

'I hope it's not split like that (heavily in Scott's favour).

'I think I've got tremendous support over the last two days and last year, so hopefully it's going to be like that.'

With nearly two decades more experience than Lee, Scott said he had no reservations about sharing the course with his younger counterpart. However, he believes that the eventual victor will need to adopt an aggressive approach

'I really don't care who I play with. I'm playing in the final group and I'm happy about that,' Scott said.

'Someone is going to get close to 20-under, so I'm just keeping pace with that kind of mark.

'You never know, it could get really windy and we're not going that deep, but this is kind of the place that was identified earlier in the week, so I'm really happy with – I call it par – but that's very good