Japan’s Kaito Sato is fifth at three-under with 15 of the 129-player field carding under-par rounds.
Laopakdee had three birdies and a bogey on the first seven holes before he joined the duo at four-under with a hole out for eagle on the ninth hole. He then had four birdies on the back nine, including hitting the pin at the 15th out of the waste with the ball well above his feet to nearly drop in another eagle.
He was in trouble at the last, having to hit sideways out of a waste bunker with his third before finishing with an up-and-down par.
The Asia Pacific Amateur Championship carries some of the richest prizes in amateur golf – the winner earns an invitation to the 2027 Masters Tournament and an exemption into The 155th Open Championship, while the runner-up and top-three finishers also earn direct pathways into golf’s biggest stages.
Bai, playing in his fifth Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, started strong with a birdie at the first and made 32 on the front nine. He got to four-under with a birdie at the par-three 12th, before his only bogey at the 15th was followed by birdies at 16 and 18.
Strong westerly winds brought the odd squall during testing conditions in which the Kiwis thrived.
“Pretty happy. Still very early in the week, but yeah, nice to start off with a round, a solid round like that,” Bai said.
“I felt like I managed my game pretty well. Obviously pretty tricky conditions with the wind, but just getting the right numbers and hitting the right types of shots into the greens, I did a pretty good job of that.”
Bai didn’t have the luxury of a long build-up and flew in on Monday from Florida, where he is in the middle of college season at the University of Florida. But it didn’t take him long to get used to home conditions.
“It’s definitely tricky to adapt to these conditions, especially playing in some warmer weather, but I grew up playing here, so I felt like I did a good job of adjusting back, just leaning back on like old knowledge.
“Personally, I love playing in the wind, just brings out a lot more creativity in golf and it kind of separates the field a little bit, so yeah, I enjoy playing in it,” Bai said.
Moore missed some early birdie putts in his round before a tricky spot on the par-four 15th left him perched on the top of a massive slope on the green and he needed to putt sideways, leading to a bogey. He responded by going birdie-birdie-eagle with a third birdie on the front nine to finish with a 67.
Cooper Moore of New Zealand plays an approach stroke on the No 7 hole during the first round. Photo / AAC
“It was good to see the weather that I think we want to see as Kiwis this weekend, bit of wind, bit of rain, so it was good to get out here first day.
“I was saying to my roommate yesterday, the first time I came here was eight months ago, so it’s been long preparation and then … Monday’s a long day and then Tuesday, Wednesday even longer as practice rounds and so it’s quite exciting to get underway today.
“I think it just makes us feel that little bit more comfortable. When we’re travelling, you sort of have to deal with being uncomfortable, whereas this week we’re sort of in our own environment…so I think this is when we play our best, when we’re comfortable.”
Auckland-based Japanese player Kanichiro Katano was also in the top 10 at one-under.
Kiwi Robby Turnbull was one-over on the 18th tee but walked off with an eagle to match his four teammates in the red numbers. Samuel Ding (even-par), Zack Swanwick (one-over) Zach May (two-over), Ishaan Shah (four-over) were the other Kiwis who will be hoping to make the cut tomorrow.