On-fire Rattanon leads Thai dominance at SJM Macao Open

Rattanon Wannasrichan of Thailand kept up his fast pace at the SJM Macao Open today by shooting a second round 66, which was four strokes better than his first round 61. He now holds the clubhouse lead.

After the morning round, he is 13-under for the $1 million event and is ahead of fellow Thai Gunn Charoenkul, who shot a 64, by two shots.

A 63 from Suteepat Prateeptienchai put him in third place, one shot behind the winner at Macau Golf & Country Club, making it a one-day event for Thailand.

Rattanon said, "I'm happy with my score today. If I can shoot four under every day, I'll be very happy." His girlfriend, Thai LPGA Tour player Manuschaya Zeemakorn, is caddying for him.

"This course is good for me because there are a lot of wedges into the greens if I hit my tee shots well."

"I think Thai golfers have played this course a lot, which could be why they're doing so well."

Gunn Charoenkul. This picture was taken by Paul Lakatos/IMG.

Yesterday, he shared for fourth place at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters, which was his best finish of the season so far. He is now looking for his second Asian Tour title. His most famous close call to a second win was at The Singapore International in 2022, when Korean Tom Kim, now a star on the PGA Tour, beat him in a sudden-death play-off. He had won the Thailand Open the year before.

Gunn is on the hunt even though he can't control his game.

He said, "I couldn't really start the ball online, so I'm just aiming everything left and playing like a 30-yard slice." Still, my putter has been great this week—I can really feel it—and it has been all week.

The way I hit the ball is still very poor. I still hit my seven iron like a 20-yard or 30-yard cut. Today I'm going to find something on the range and see how it goes.

The 32-year-old is known as "one of the best players who hasn't won on the Asian Tour." He is getting ideas from his roommate Suteepat, who won the Yeangder TPC two weeks ago.

He also said, "My roommate "Tee" [Suteepat] is setting me on fire." He already has two wins, but I haven't had any in about ten years. It's been a real grind for me the past two weeks. I learned a lot about how to better handle my game over the last two weeks. I no longer just went to the course to work on my swing.

"Somehow, things are going well this week, and I hope the trend is going up." Souteepat makes a lot of jokes that make me laugh, which I use to get the best out of myself. The way he's going is really good, and I hope he pulls me up too.

At the turn, John Catlin had a 65, putting him five shots behind the leader. It was expected that the Americans would move up the rankings. He won the International Series Macau here in March with a score of 59 on the third day. He is currently in first place on both the Asian Tour and the International Series.

Australia's Min Woo Lee, who is defending his title, shot his second 68 and is now four under for the event.