Pawin climbs top at Singha Masters on rebuilt swing
Chiang Rai - Former SEA Games gold medallist Pawin Ingkhapradit has been attempting to fix his swing for the past two months.
Yesterday, he showed signs of improvement, producing an unblemished 65 to take the joint lead with Rattanon Wannasrichan in the Bt5.3-million Singha Masters at the Santiburi Country Club.
The 25-year-old from Suphan Buri rounded off his superb round with a 25-foot eagle putt on the 18th to go with his five birdies in the third All Thailand Tour event, at the par-72, 7,232-yard layout.
“My new swing looks good. Since the changes, I have played well in the three events I entered. Significantly, I putted very well today,” said Pawin, who won his only All Thailand title in Hua Hin two years ago.
“I always played well in these kind of tournaments but somehow never had a good finish. Now that I have had a good start, I hope things will be different this year, said Pawin, who has a one-stroke lead with Rattanon over the field.
A day after being exempted from military service by picking up a black card in the conscription draw in Chanthaburi, the 22-year-old Rattanon fired eight birdies against one bogey.
“I arrived on Wednesday night and teed off early in the morning. It turned out that every shot of mine was very good,” said Rattanon, a former SEA Games gold medallist, who would have cancelled his trip to the North had he drawn a red card.
“It wouldn’t have been a problem if I had to serve in the Army. But they needed only 10 men from my district. I knew there wouldn’t be many red cards,” said the former national player.
Four players including Chanachok Dejpiratanamongkol, the champion from the last leg in Rayong, trail the leaders by a shot.
