Rama, No. 1,214, leading at Joburg

South African golfer Nikhil Rama rose to the top of the leaderboard at the Joburg Open after hitting an 8-under 62 in the second round on Friday at Johannesburg.

Rama, who is ranked No. 1,214, made an eagle and six birdies at Houghton Golf Club in his 10th European tour event. He leads Thriston Lawrence, another South African, by one shot at 13-under 127 total.

“What can I say, it was a great round,” the 22year-old Rama said. “It’s my lowest score on tour so far so I’m really excited about that. I’m enjoying the pressure, enjoying the fans, which is great, and just trying to have fun.”

Lawrence, who won the event in 2021, had a three-shot lead after the first round. He shot 4-under in the second round after bogeying twice and making one eagle.

Smith misses the cut at Brisbane:

Cam Smith missed the cut in his Australian PGA Championship title defense after slumping to 9 over after a 78 to finish 21 shots off the pace.

Min Woo Lee took the lead at 12 under at the halfway point after a 5-under 66 on Friday, and Adam Scott was next at 11 under after shooting 65 in the second round.

Australia reaches Davis Cup final

Alex de Miñaur and Alexei Popyrin put Australia back into the Davis Cup final for a second straight year after winning their singles matches in a 2-0 victory over Finland at Malaga, Spain.

Popyrin gave Australia a 1-0 lead in the semifinal match after beating Otto Virtanen 7-6 (5), 6-2. De Miñaur then finished off Finland by beating Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-3.

Novak Djokovic’s Serbia will face Jannik Sinner’s Italy on Saturday

in the other semifinal match.