St Andrews, Scotland: Former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) participants Sadom Kaewkanjana and Yuto Katsuragawa soared into contention at the half-way stage of the 150th Open Championship.
Steering clear of the hazardous pot bunkers which dot the Old Course, Thai Sadom fired a second-round bogey-free five-under-par 67. With a two-day tally of six-under 138, he enters the weekend in a share of 12th place, seven strokes off the blistering pace being set by Australian Cameron Smith, another ex-AAC contestant.
One shot behind Sadom in joint 18th is Japan’s Katsuragawa, who followed up an opening 71 with a four-under 68.
“It’s very amazing for me to be in this position,” said 24-year-old Sadom, who has battled back after slipping to one-over through 11 holes of the opening round. In the subsequent 25 holes, he’s nine-under.
“My first target was to make the cut,” said Sadom, a four-time player in the AAC who secured his ticket to St Andrews courtesy of his victory in January’s SMBC Singapore Open.
Now that he’s comfortably achieved that feat, his attention will turn to bettering the performance of Thongchai Jaidee, his idol and mentor. In 2009, Thongchai tied for 13th at Turnberry, to date the best finish by a Thai in the Open.
One of the finest players in the history of the Asian Tour, Thongchai was due to arrive in the United Kingdom last night ahead of his appearance in the Senior Open Championship at Gleneagles next week.
With Sadom flying high, Thongchai will make a detour to St Andrews to offer words of encouragement to his young compatriot.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Thongchai and getting advice from him. He’s my idol and has helped me a lot,” said Sadom, who knows that one of the keys to keeping alive hopes of a top-10 finish will depend on his ability to avoid the punishing sand traps around St Andrews.
“In the first two rounds I haven’t been in a single bunker,” he said. “I’ve been feeling confident on every shot. On the back nine in the second round I changed my gameplan. Because the wind direction changed, I was aiming further left off the tee and that worked.”
Runner-up to Sadom in the SMBC Singapore Open, 23-year-old Katsuragawa has also exceeded expectations.
“I’m surprised to be doing so well. I didn’t expect this,” admitted the Asian Tour member who finished eighth on his sole AAC appearance in 2019. “This is my first time in Scotland and my first time in Europe. I really came here just for the experience. I love the atmosphere,” added Katsuragawa, currently second on the Japan Golf Tour Organisation’s Money List after a brilliant run of form.
Alongside Sadom on 138 are three other AAC alumni – Australians Lucas Herbert and Min Woo Lee and Korean Kim Si-woo.
