AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand took an early lead at the 2026 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship on Thursday, carding an eight-under-par 63 at Te Arai Links' South Course to open up a three-stroke advantage over New Zealand's Joshua Bai after the first round.
Laopakdee, 21, now a senior at Arizona State University, became the first player from Thailand to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur last year in Dubai.
"Couldn't ask for a better way to start the round," said Laopakdee. "Before it started, I knew it was going to be windy out there and it was going to be tough. Eight under wasn't on my bingo card today, but I was able to pull it off and it feels amazing."
Bai, a 20-year-old from New Zealand, carded a five-under 66 to lead a strong contingent of New Zealanders on the leaderboard. He offset three birdies with a lone bogey on his first nine and added three more birdies coming in to reach five under. Fellow New Zealanders Ryan Xie and Cooper Moore finished at four-under 67.
Joseph Cao from Hong Kong, China, the youngest player in the field at 14, was tied for sixth at two under alongside New Zealand's Yuki Miya, Australia's Kayun Mudadana, Malaysia's Nateesh Ganesh and China's Wu Qiyou.
"The wind was very strong in the afternoon, but I'm still quite happy with my score. I also stayed relatively calm when I encountered difficulties," Wu said. "This course is definitely challenging in the wind. At 69, I'm not too far behind the top three, and I think there will be plenty of opportunities to catch up over the next few days."
A 36-hole cut will be made to the top 60 and ties after Friday's second round.
The 17th edition of the championship runs from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 on Te Arai Links' South Course, with 120 players from 39 countries and regions competing in the 72-hole stroke-play event.
The winner will earn invitations to the 2027 Masters Tournament, the 155th Open Championship and the 132nd Amateur Championship. ■
