Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert [main picture] and Poom Saksansin have taken the lead after the second round of the Yeangder TPC, on a day when players from their country dominated the leaderboard.

Pavit, the joint-first round leader, fired a six-under-par 66, and Poom, the champion here in 2023, a 64 at Linkou International Golf & Country Club.

They lead on 14-under in the first of two Asian Tour events being played back-to-back in Chinese-Taipei.

Tawit Polthai from Thailand, who topped last year’s Asian Development Tour rankings, fired a best of the week 62, to sit in third place one shot back with Japan’s Kazuki Higa – the defending champion once again in the hunt after a 66.

Two more Thais Ekpharit Wu, in with a 66, and Jazz Janewattananond, who shot a 67, are tied for fifth.

They are two strokes further behind along with Chinese-Taipei’s Chien-yao Hung, another of the opening day leaders. Hung fired a 69.

For the second day in succession Pavit impressed by executing a bogey-free round. He made six birdies, including on his first two holes.

He said: “I think the wind switched today. A lot of cross wind for today, it was definitely a different wind from yesterday, and it’s very tricky. You know, if you hit it high, the wind is different from lower down. Yeah, it was very tricky.”

The 37-year-old came close to winning earlier in the season finishing second in the Philippine Golf Championship and equal second in the International Series Japan. He is determined to finally claim his third title on the Asian Tour, with the most recent being the Sabah Masters in 2019.

“I didn’t win for maybe like five years already. So yeah, let’s see because I came very, very close already in the Philippines, in Japan, and came second a lot of times in Thailand. So yeah, keep knocking the door,” he said.

He’s also on mission to win this week for his wife Chorphaka Jaengjit, a Thai LPGA professional who is here watching him, as it’s the 20^th anniversary of their relationship.

While Pavit has won two ADT event in Chinese-Taipei, Poom has the distinction of having won once here on the Asian Tour, with that success at the Yeangder TPC three years ago. It was his fourth victory and most recent on the Asian Tour

Tawit Polthai.

Today’s performance, which saw him shoot nine birdies, including five on the second half, and just one bogey, has put him in a strong position heading into the weekend. Should he win again this week he would become only the second player to win the tournament twice. The only other is his compatriot Thaworn Wiratchant in 2010 and 2013.

Two rounds in the mid-60s so far have come as welcome relief for the 33-year-old, who has been at odds with his game recently.

“It’s not been very good,” he said. “Played in local events and finished not so well. But I just opened an academy and I was teaching one of my friends, and I was just teaching him a drill, which took about two hours, and then that drill got into my swing. So good luck for me.”

He explained: “My swing is a little bit too deep on my backswing and my shaft gets too flat, which is the same problem as my friend. So, I just told him that you have to get your hands more in front and more steep on the backswing. I kept doing that drill for two hours because I was teaching him. I wasn’t hitting any shots. Then yeah, that drill got into my swing.”

Tawit surged up the leaderboard to join his countrymen after making 10 birdies and not dropping a shot.

“I don’t know, everything was like a perfect day for me,” he said. “I hit all the good numbers. I’ve shot 10 under in like a practice round before, but not in a tournament.”

Higa, whose win last year put him on the road to winning the Asian Tour Order of Merit, was equally as explosive making two eagles, on par fives, and five birdies. However, three bogeys meant he finished the day just off the lead.

Malaysia’s Ervin Chang, another of the three who started the day leading, returned a 71 and is five back.

Australia’s Travis Smyth and Taichi Kho from Hong Kong, first and second respectively on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, moved into contention after carding 68s. They are six shots behind the two frontrunners.

Pictures by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.