Defending champion Laopakdee under siege from New Zealanders at Asia Pacific
Leader, Fifa Laopakdee, during his morning round on day two – image AAC
Defending champion Fifa Laopakdee was unable to reproduce the magic of his day one 63 in today’s second round of the 2026 Asia Pacific Amateur Championship at the Te Arai Links north of Auckland in New Zealand, but his one-over-par round of 72 in demanding, breezy, conditions has him at 7 under par, his three-shot opening-round lead, however, is now reduced to just two over New Zealand’s Cooper Moore
Playing early on day two, Laopakdee reached the turn in 2 under 34, but dropped shots at four of the next five holes, surrounded by a birdie at his 12th hole, saw him finish at 1 over for the day, but his effort has him very well placed as the event heads into the weekend.
“Yeah, as you can see, it’s a little windy,” said Laopakdee with a smile. “Didn’t expect it in the morning, though, but we’ll see how it plays in the afternoon. Overall, it was a grind out there for me. Had a great front nine, shot 2‑under par, then back nine, just didn’t make any putts.
“Got two 3‑putts and then, coming down the stretch, had a great chance of birdies, but I just missed all of them. But if you asked me, like, just all week, I would take 7‑under for the first two rounds, I would take it, definitely, and I think I’m in good position for the weekend.”
Moore was out more than 4 hours after Laopakdee had finished his round and at 1 over par through 10 holes in the increasingly blustery conditions and four from the lead, his chances of challenging Laopakdee appeared slim. The Christchurch golfer, however, holed a lengthy birdie putt at the 16th and then produced some short-game wizardry on the final hole, adding one last birdie to move within two of the lead.
“Yeah, really proud of myself after that,” said Moore, referring to his comeback from a relatively slow start. “Obviously it’s windy; I made a lot of putts. Didn’t hole many putts, and then to finish with two birdies in my last three is good momentum to go into the weekend.”
Moore has already shown a capacity to contend in a significant event, finishing runner-up at the New Zealand PGA Championship in March, along with wins at the New Zealand Amateur and Australian Junior Amateur Championships.
Cooper Moore – in action today -image courtesy of AAC
In third place and three from the lead is another of the nine strong New Zealand team in the event, Ryan Xie, whose round of 71 included a 45-foot eagle putt after driving the green at the 3rd hole after bogeys at his opening two holes. Xie will play collegiate golf at Santa Clara University in California in the 2026/2027 season.
“It was stupid tough out there,” said Xie, referring to the conditions. “Just try to keep the ball as low as you can. Let the wind do its thing and just get it close”.
Ryan Xie – during today’s second round – image courtesy of AAC
One of Laopkdee’s playing partners over the opening two days has been New Zealand’s Zack Swanwick, and after a slow start yesterday where he was four over par through six holes, the second highest ranked player in the field finished off round one with three consecutive birdies which built important momentum for his second round of 67 to be at 3 under, four from the lead and alone in 4th place.
Swanwick was clearly delighted to have bounced back into contention.
“Pretty happy,” said Swanwick after his round. “It’s been a rough few weeks for the game. It’s a bit of confidence for the week and looking forward to it.”
When asked what had made the difference between his disappointing start, his late comeback on day one and his round today Swanwick replied; “Just the ball flight. I kept hitting high shots when I should have been hitting knockdowns. Went back to that on range yesterday and kept the flight down, ball control and helped a lot.”
Both Laopkdee and Swanwick also attend college in the US, Laopkdee at Arizona State and Swanwick at Florida State.
Queensland’s Harrison Gomez leads the Australians in a share of 8th place at even par.
The cut fell at a massive 13 over, a reflection of the demanding, blustery conditions on the stunning Te Arai Links.
