Laopakdee was an early starter, which produced the lower scores in round one. The Thai player started with a bogey at his first hole, the 10th, before recording three birdies and moved to 10-under but lost his way with four bogeys and a birdie to start the front nine, eventually carding a one-over 72.
He’s looking to emulate 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, who is the only player to defend his Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship title.
“It was a grind out there for me. Had a great front nine, shoot two‑under par, then back nine, just didn’t make any putts. Got two three‑putts and then coming down the stretch had a great chance of birdies but I just missed all of them,“ Laopakdee said.
“But if you ask me like just all week, I would take seven‑under for the first two rounds, I would take it, definitely, and I think I’m in good position for the weekend.”
Moore was even through 15 with two birdies and two bogeys but a long-distance birdie at 16 with a crafty eagle putt off the bank at the 18th green led to a finishing birdie and a one-under 70.
Xie had an eagle at the third to go with two birdies and four bogeys.
Ryan Xie of New Zealand plays a stroke from a waste area on the No 7 hole during the second round of the 2026 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at the Te Arai Links South Course. Photo / AAC
“This is unreal. There was some moments I thought it would be called off. Balls were rolling non-stop but very happy with how I handled it today. Quite proud of my ball striking today. I never really missed a shot out there. Kept it in play, which you need to do around here. Playing in the afternoon all you can do is try and survive. So I’m glad to get even par today,” Xie said.
Japan’s Taishi Moto produced the highlight of the day with an ace at the eighth hole – on his way to an even-par 71, which leaves him in a share of sixth at one-under.
Kiwi Joshua Bai sat in second at the start of the day on five-under but slipped down the leaderboard with a seven-over 78, his only birdie coming at the 18th.
Top-ranked Kiwi Swanwick, who like Bai plays at University of Florida, was the best of the day with a four-under 67. A strong bounceback after being four-over the card midway through his opening round yesterday.
Swanwick was one of just five players to post a red number today (including Moore and fellow Kiwi Zach May), two shots better than anyone else.
“Fairways and greens are really valuable out there. Just kind of stuck to our game plan and have fun along the way and had a few putts roll in on back nine, which helps,” Swanwick said.
“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.”