Zack Swanwick takes lead into final round at Asia Pacifc Amateur Championship
New Zealand’s Zack Swanwick acknowledges the crowd after holing a birdie putt at the last – image AAC
Through six holes of Thursday’s opening round of the 2026 Asia Pacific Amateur Championship, 20-year-old New Zealander Zack Swanwick, must have been wondering just what was going on. As one of the leading-ranked players in the field, he found himself 4 over par, and, with a demanding Te Arai Links layout ahead of him, Swanwick had a lot of work just to get himself back into contention.
Fast forward just over 48 hours and Swanwick finds himself with a two-shot lead as the prestigious championship enters the final day with so much at stake.
Swanwick’s birdies at the last three holes on Thursday played a big role in both his position on the leaderboard and the momentum needed as he entered round two, and when he signed for a round of 67 on Friday he was very much a contender.
Today, in improved but still breezy conditions on one of New Zealand’s now flagship layouts, Swanwick put together an impressive five-birdie, one-bogey round of 67, which included a final nine of 33, and when he finished he stood two ahead of long-time leader, Fifa Laopakdee and Cooper Moore who were playing in the group behind but with an opportunity to close the gap at the reachable par 5 18th.
Both Moore and Laopakdee would, however, miss very makeable birdie chances, and they head into tomorrow’s final round two behind Swanwick and two ahead of the only other player under par for the 54 holes to date, Kaito Sato of Japan.
In a share of 5th place are Australian Harry Takis, who himself has made an impressive comeback from a slow start to the week and may not yet be out of things, and another New Zealander Zach May.
Swanwick made what might turn out to be a crucial birdie at the last after finding the sandy area left of the fairway at the par five and deciding to lay up instead of taking on a risky line to the green, and he was rewarded with an outstanding shot from 130 metres or so to set up a 12-foot birdie which he converted.
“Saw it go left, not in the best spot but got lucky with the lie,” said Swanwick describing his final hole. “After a bad shot, the last thing you don’t want to do is hit another one. Just lay up. If I had a shot at birdie on the last hole, I would be happy. Hit a nice little iron shot and made the putt.
“Nice way to finish. Yeah, looking forward to tomorrow. Be a cool opportunity.”
With just four players under par and 13 over par making the cut for the leading 65, the outstanding layout has proven to be a fine test for the field of 120 and tomorrow the final round will test the nerve and skill of those four and perhaps one or two more who look to claim the prestigious Asia Pacific Amateur title and the much-sought-after starts at the 2027 Masters Tournament and Open Championship.
