Defending champ Fifa Laopakdee salvages 72 for 2-shot lead in windy Asia-Pacific Amateur

TOMARATA, New Zealand — Defending champion Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand salvaged a 1-over 72 in strong wind Friday in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend at Te Arai Links.A day after opening with an 8-under 63, Laopakdee began his morning round on the seaside layout bogey-bogey-birdie-bogey-bogey in 35 mph wind. The Arizona State senior also bogeyed the 10th, then birdied Nos. 12, 13 and 17.“I had a 5‑footer two holes in a row and the ball just snapped 90 degrees,” Laopakdee said. “I aimed a foot left from 5 feet and it went like 3 feet right. It’s pretty tricky. Overall, it was a grind out there and I would take 7 under for the first two rounds.”The winner will receive spots in the Masters and British Open. Last year in Dubai, Laopakdee won the third hole of a playoff to become the first Thai champion in event history.Three players from New Zealand followed on the leaderboard. Cooper Moore (70) was second at 5 under, Ryan Xie (71) was 4 under, and Zack Swanwic (67) 3 under. Kaito Sato of Japan was 2 under after a 72.Seven players were under par after two days, with Japan’s Taishi Moto (71) and China’s Qiyou Wu (72) at 1 under. Moto had a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth.“I couldn’t make any putts because it was super windy out there so the hole-in-one definitely helped a lot,” Moto said. “It was super difficult on the greens. Like ridiculous. My ball was moving. My body was moving.”Podcast: How a PGA Tour caddie created his own college golf rankingsWith Burko in New Zealand for the Asia-Pacific Amateur, former Oregon State coach Jon Reehoorn joins Brentley as co-host. Reehoorn, who now caddies full-time for PGA Tour player Joel Dahmen, also writes a college-golf Substack and runs his own rankings for college golf. Brentley Romine, Brentley Romine,