Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan inched his way closer to the Singha Laguna Phuket Open trophy in Phuket today, posting a two under par score of 68 to hold the lead going into the weekend.

Following up on his sensational low round of 61 yesterday, his 68 means he is one shot ahead of compatriot Pavit Tangkamolprasert (66) in the THB4 million Asian Development Tour / All Thailand Golf tournament.

Even with preferred lies being played for the first two rounds, Rattanon found the changing conditions a little harder to deal with in Round Two.

“Today was a little bit windy,” he explained after his round. “The first nine was a little bit tough, my game was the same as yesterday but the ball would not go in.

“For tomorrow I will just try to focus on my putting and control my speed. If I can control my putting I think I can win,” he added.

“If it is windy, it’s very tough on this course, if you don’t hit the fairway it’s difficult to get to the green,” he explained.

In third place, and just two shots behind the leader on nine under par, are the Asian Tour stalwarts from Thailand – Chapchai Nirat (66), Phachara Khongwatmai (65), Settee Prakongvech (64) and Itthipat Buranatanyarat (67) – and relative newcomer Ekpharit Wu (66).

Asian Tour veteran Angelo Que (64) of the Philippines had a real adventure out on the course, shooting nine birdies and three bogeys to finish on a two day total of eight under par, leaving him tied for eighth alongside Thailand’s Jakraphan Premsirigorn and Japan’s Naoki Sekito.

“It was a bit of a roller coaster in the beginning,” said Que after his round. “I bogeyed the first hole, birdied the next two, parred the next two and didn’t really make a par after that.

“I’m very happy. I didn’t hit it quite so good but I chipped it really well. Most of my birdies were tap-ins on the par fives, and I saved some pretty good pars along the way,” he added.

The morning conditions were favorable for Que, and he was appreciative of the advantage in playing earlier today. “The course is in great shape, I can’t complain. Conditions are playing somewhat easier today because there was less wind and the greens are rolling nice.

“If you hit good shots here you get rewarded, you just have to be patient out there. There are a lot of birdie holes but do you have to be careful,” he added.

“I played this course last year, found it fun to play. Unfortunately it wasn’t an Asian Tour event but for the ADT its great,” he noted.

“In my experience, the ADT right now is creating really good players,” he said. “The scores are really low, even though its just the ADT. Players are getting better, they are not scared, they are ready and they are hungry. I think it’s great for the ADT and for the Asian Tour,” he added.

In 11th spot, alongside Douglas Klein of Australia and Thailand’s Chonlatit Chuenboonngam, Natipong Srithong and Nitithorn Thippong, Liu Wei-chih of Chinese Taipei posted the low round of the day with a bogey-free seven under par 63.

“It’s just fairways and greens this week,” said Liu after his round, “even with a mishit shot I managed to make par. My proximity to the hole was much better today, yesterday I had a lot of double breaks and found it really hard to read.”

Play continues tomorrow with 68 players making the cut which was set at one under par. The first rgoups are off at 7.08am local time, with theleadersteng off at 9.10pm

The Singha Laguna Phuket Open, a THB4 million co-sanctioned event by the Asian Development Tour and the All Thailand Golf Tour, is one of two ADT events scheduled for May, with the THB3 million ADT/All Thailand Partnership was held at Red Mountain Golf Course in Phuket from May 2-5.