Thailand’s Sarut Vongchaisit held on to his lead in the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters today with a two-under-par 70, despite a determined charge by top local amateur Nguyen Tuan Anh (68) who finished the day one shot back.

Sarut was unable to replicate his sparkling 61 from the opening day, but three birdies and just one dropped shot kept him ahead of the field as the US$90,000 Asian Development Tour event heads into the final round.

“I hit the driver pretty much the same, but didn’t hit my irons close like yesterday,” he said after his round, “and the putts definitely didn’t drop, which made a big difference.

“I was one of the last groups out today and the greens were pretty beat up, which made a big difference,” he added.

“Tomorrow, I’ll just try to do the same thing. Put it in the fairway first, that’s the main priority I would say,” he said.

The pair sit ahead of Thailand’s Nirun Sae-ueng (65) and compatriot Nopparat Panichphol (64), who posted the low round of the day with an unblemished eight birdie charge, following up on his victory last month in the Indonesia Pro-Am, presented by Combiphar and Nomura.

“I hit my driver very well today,” said Nopparat after his round. “I hit 10 fairways and 16 greens in regulation, better than my normal average, and with a length of one or two flags to the hole, my putter was very good.

“For me these greens are very similar to Thailand, easy to read and you just need to judge the speed. I wasn’t too comfortable with my swing coming in to the week, but once I was on the course and hit a few good shots it made me more confident,” he said.

Vietnam’s Nguyen Tuan Anh (amateur) pictured in action during Round Two of the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters on October 9, 2025. Picture courtesy Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters.

Leading Vietnamese player Nguyen had to manage a late start to keep the pressure on the leader.

“For me, I play well in the mornings because I usually wake up early,” he said. “Today i hit the driver OK, irons were on the green, not close like yesterday but it was OK. It was a slow start. I made birdie on the first, bogey on second, and then just played par, par, par.

“On the back nine I got a couple of lucky putts and finished with 68 today, a good round for me,” he added.

Heading into the final round of the 54-hole tournament, Thailand’s Natipong Srithong (67) and Tawit Polthai (67) share fifth spot with Dodge Kemmer (68) of the USA and Malaysia’s Marcus Lim (66).

Barry Henson (66) of the USA holds ninth place one shot further back at nine under par, alongside Carl Jano Corpus (65) of the Philippines and the Thai duo of Wit Pitipat (67) and Kittiphong Phaithuncharoensuk (66).

The cut was made at two under par and 56 players will contest the final round, with the first groups off two tees at 6.30am local time. The leading group comprising Sarut, Nguyen and Nopparat tee it up at 8.00am.

Main picture: Thailand’s Sarut Vongchaisit pictured in action during Round Two of the Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters on October 9, 2025. Picture courtesy Nam A Bank Vietnam Masters.