New Zealand Trio Keep Pressure on Front-Running Fifa  05:25, 30/10/2026

Defending champion Pongsapak ‘Fifa’ Laopakdee fired a one-over-par 72 to maintain pole position at the half-way stage of the 17th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

But with a trio of New Zealanders – Cooper Moore, Ryan Xie and Zack Swanwick – hot on his heels, a thrilling weekend is in store at Te Arai Links.

On a day when the winds whipped up, Swanwick was the only player in the elite 120-man field to better 70.

Thai Fifa had four bogeys in a five-hole stretch en route to a one-over 72 – nine stroke worse than his scintillating opening-day effort.

With a 36-hole total of seven-under 135 he heads into Saturday’s third round with a two-shot advantage from last year’s Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Junior champion Moore, who birdied the 18th for a 70. 

Xie recovered from bogeys at his first two holes to post an even-par 71 and is third on 138 with Swanwick soaring 21 places to fourth on 139 following a brilliant 67, the only sub-70 return in round two.

Also in contention in fifth place (140) is Kaito Sato and fellow-Japanese Taishi Moto, who shares sixth with China’s Wu Qiyou on 141.

Moto had an eventful day, his round including a quadruple-bogey eight at the first – his 10th hole of the day – where he four-putted, and a hole-in-one at the eighth where his seven-iron from 178 yards found the bottom of the cup.

For good measure he picked up another shot at the ninth, his final hole, to sign for a 71.

Emphasising the degree of difficulty was the fact that the cut for the leading 60 players and ties fell at 13-over-par 155 – the second highest in AAC history behind China’s par-72 Nanshan International Golf Club in 2013 when foul weather saw the cut come at 15-over 159.

For Swanwick, an adjustment in ball flight and mentality proved decisive.

“I kept hitting high shots when I should have been hitting knockdowns (on day one). I went back to that on range yesterday and kept the flight down. My ball control was much better,” said Swanwick, 23rd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Holing a few putts also aided his cause. He said: “Hitting fairways and greens is really valuable out there. I just stuck to my game plan, had fun along the way and had a few putts roll in on back nine.

“I just freed myself. It's pretty easy to overthink a few shots out here with wind and more break.  I just freed up and picked a target and it went in.”

Bidding to emulate Hideki Matsuyama (2010 and 2011) and become just the second player to successfully defend the AAC title, Fifa started on the back nine which he covered in two-under before his magical putting touch deserted him.

He said: “Overall, it was a grind out there for me. I had a great front nine, then on my back nine I just didn’t make any putts. The wind picked up on the back nine and it was tough for everyone.

“I had two three‑putts and a lot of good chances for birdie but I didn’t capitalise. But if you’d asked me at the start of the week, I would definitely have taken