Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship: China’s Bo Jin leads while Thai teen star Ratchanon settles for ‘disappointing’ 67
- Oklahoma State student shoots opening seven-under 65 to grab a two-shot lead in Thailand
- Hong Kong contingent of Taichi Kho, Alexander Yang and Leon D’Souza all fail to break par
China’s Bo Jin shot an opening seven-under 65 to grab a two-shot lead at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Thailand on Thursday, while local star Ratchanon “TK” Chantananuwat settled for a “disappointing” 67.
Jin, who finished third last year in Dubai after leading for much of the tournament, recovered from a bogey at the first to have a day where he “did everything well”.
The Oklahoma State student said it was “hard not to be pleased” with his round, and called his birdie on the second and chip-in for birdie on the par-5 15th the highlights of the day.
“My putting was disappointing,” the 15-year-old said. “I hit so many good iron shots today, I just didn’t make any putts.”
Ratchanon, like Jin, has come into the week as one of the favourites and said even if his putts had dropped he wouldn’t have put any daylight between himself and the rest of the field.
“You don’t win on the first day,” he said. “You don’t win until the 72nd hole. I’ve learned that from personal experience. I tried to win on Saturday and it did not work out.”
