Last week’s runner-up Sami Välimäki started his round with three consecutive birdies and closed with a bogey-free 8-under 64 to take a share of the lead in the Thailand Classic.
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“A really good round. I started nicely and kept it going the whole day.
“I just kept playing and when I started hitting the ball really well, it just made it easy. I was putting really good the whole time and when I got chances I tried to make them.”
Denmark’s Martin Simonsen joined the Finn in the lead with a round that featured an eagle at the par-5 11th and a bogey at the par-3 13th.
“It’s a great day. I thought it was going to be difficult out there with the wind, and it was. But thankfully I played the par fives really well, which helped. It was great.
“With the wind today, most of them were downwind, so that helped a lot, but you still have to hit the shots. I made it fairly easy for myself on the par fives, that’s the key this week, I think.”
Germans Alexander Knappe and Yannik Paul are tied in third place at 7-under.
Related: Kiradech Aphibarnrat relishing competing on home soil again in Thailand Classic
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SIMONSEN, Martin | -8 | 64 |
| | VÄLIMÄKI, Sami | -8 | 64 |
| 3 | KNAPPE, Alexander | -7 | 65 |
| | PAUL, Yannik | -7 | 65 |
| 5 | SCIOT-SIEGRIST, Robin | -6 | 66 |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -6 | 66 |
| | CABRERA BELLO, Rafa | -6 | 66 |
| | ZANOTTI, Fabrizio | -6 | 66 |
| 9 | VAN DRIEL, Darius | -5 | 67 |
| | LOMBARD, Zander | -5 | 67 |
| LEE, Joshua | -5 | 67 | |
| | LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo | -5 | 67 |
| | ROZNER, Antoine | -5 | 67 |
| | BJÖRK, Alexander | -5 | 67 |
| | OLESEN, Thorbjørn | -5 | 67 |
| | BRING, Christoffer | -5 | 67 |
| 17 | KAWAMURA, Masahiro | -4 | 68 |
| | BACHEM, Nick | -4 | 68 |
| | VAN TONDER, Daniel | -4 | 68 |
| | FORSSTRÖM, Simon | -4 | 68 |
| | GAVINS, Daniel | -4 | 68 |
| | MACINTYRE, Robert | -4 | 68 |
| | LANGASQUE, Romain | -4 | 68 |
| | LAW, David | -4 | 68 |
| | AIKEN, Thomas | -4 | 68 |
| DEL REY, Alejandro | -4 | 68 | |
| | SORDET, Clément | -4 | 68 |
| | WANG, Jeunghun | -4 | 68 |
| | FORREST, Grant | -4 | 68 |
| | APHIBARNRAT, Kiradech | -4 | 68 |
| | SADDIER, Adrien | -4 | 68 |
| | PAVON, Matthieu | -4 | 68 |
| 33 | LUITEN, Joost | -3 | 69 |
| | WHITNELL, Dale | -3 | 69 |
| | PIKE, Aaron | -3 | 69 |
| | SCHNEIDER, Marcel | -3 | 69 |
| | LI, Haotong | -3 | 69 |
| | WU, Ashun | -3 | 69 |
| | FIGUEIREDO, Pedro | -3 | 69 |
| | JAIDEE, Thongchai | -3 | 69 |
| | LAGERGREN, Joakim | -3 | 69 |
| | HUIZING, Daan | -3 | 69 |
| | SIEM, Marcel | -3 | 69 |
| | CATLIN, John | -3 | 69 |
| | SAMOOJA, Kalle | -3 | 69 |
| | EASTON, Bryce | -3 | 69 |
| | REDMAN, Jake | -3 | 69 |
| | SCHAPER, Jayden | -3 | 69 |
| | NØRGAARD, Niklas | -3 | 69 |
| | ARMITAGE, Marcus | -3 | 69 |
| WINDRED, Blake | -3 | 69 | |
| | HELLIGKILDE, Marcus | -3 | 69 |
| 53 | FAHRBRING, Jens | -2 | 70 |
| | BALDWIN, Matthew | -2 | 70 |
| | EDÉN, Tobias | -2 | 70 |
| | PORTEOUS, Garrick | -2 | 70 |
| | HØJGAARD, Nicolai | -2 | 70 |
| | HUNDEBØLL, Oliver | -2 | 70 |
| | AXELSEN, John | -2 | 70 |
| | MURPHY, John | -2 | 70 |
| | KRISTJANSSON, Gudmundur | -2 | 70 |
| | HIGA, Kazuki | -2 | 70 |
| | OTAEGUI, Adrian | -2 | 70 |
| | WARING, Paul | -2 | 70 |
| | CAMPILLO, Jorge | -2 | 70 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | -2 | 70 |
| | MOLINARI, Edoardo | -2 | 70 |
| | DOBBELAAR, Louis | -2 | 70 |
| | PAPADATOS, Dimitrios | -2 | 70 |
| 70 | LORENZO-VERA, Mike | -1 | 71 |
| | WILSON, Andrew | -1 | 71 |
| | BJØRN, Thomas | -1 | 71 |
| | MANSELL, Richard | -1 | 71 |
| | HURLEY, Gary | -1 | 71 |
| | MCKIBBIN, Tom | -1 | 71 |
| | VENTER, Albert | -1 | 71 |
| | JAMIESON, Scott | -1 | 71 |
| | MORRISON, James | -1 | 71 |
| | GANDAS, Manu | -1 | 71 |
| | SYME, Connor | -1 | 71 |
| | SOUTHGATE, Matthew | -1 | 71 |
| | WU, Ekpharit | -1 | 71 |
| 83 | SEMIKAWA, Taiga | Par | 72 |
| | RAVETTO, David | Par | 72 |
| | KANAYA, Takumi | Par | 72 |
| | ParRY, John | Par | 72 |
| | DE JAGER, Louis | Par | 72 |
| | FREIBURGHAUS, Jeremy | Par | 72 |
| | HILLIER, Daniel | Par | 72 |
| | LINDBERG, Mikael | Par | 72 |
| | HANNA, Chase | Par | 72 |
| | BRADBURY, Dan | Par | 72 |
| | STALTER, Joël | Par | 72 |
| | SCHOTT, Freddy | Par | 72 |
| | HEBERT, Benjamin | Par | 72 |
| | CLEMENTS, Todd | Par | 72 |
| | HIDALGO, Angel | Par | 72 |
| | BROWN, Daniel | Par | 72 |
| | SULLIVAN, Andy | Par | 72 |
| | ELVIRA, Nacho | Par | 72 |
| LONG, Hurly | Par | 72 | |
| | CHANTANANUWAT, TK Ratchanon (AM) | Par | 72 |
| | WARREN, Marc | Par | 72 |
| | KO, Jeong weon | Par | 72 |
| 105 | PULKKANEN, Tapio | +1 | 73 |
| | SMITH, Jordan | +1 | 73 |
| | JORDAN, Matthew | +1 | 73 |
| | COLSAERTS, Nicolas | +1 | 73 |
| | TARRIO, Santiago | +1 | 73 |
| | VONGVANIJ, Arnond | +1 | 73 |
| | KJELDSEN, Søren | +1 | 73 |
| | VILJOEN, MJ | +1 | 73 |
| | WALTERS, Justin | +1 | 73 |
| | COETZEE, George | +1 | 73 |
| | SÖDERBERG, Sebastian | +1 | 73 |
| 116 | GERMISHUYS, Deon | +2 | 74 |
| | MIGLIOZZI, Guido | +2 | 74 |
| | WINTHER, Jeff | +2 | 74 |
| | DONALDSON, Jamie | +2 | 74 |
| | STAL, Gary | +2 | 74 |
| | SCRIVENER, Jason | +2 | 74 |
| | KORHONEN, Mikko | +2 | 74 |
| 123 | SHARMA, Shubhankar | +3 | 75 |
| | HUTSBY, Sam | +3 | 75 |
| | JOHANNESSEN, Kristian Krogh | +3 | 75 |
| | DANTORP, Jens | +3 | 75 |
| | QUAYLE, Anthony | +3 | 75 |
| 128 | GREEN, Gavin | +5 | 77 |
| 129 | TANNIN, Kwanchai | +7 | 79 |
| | CHENGYAO, Ma | +7 | 79 |
| 131 | WIEBE, Gunner | +8 | 80 |
| 132 | PIAMKULVANICH, Ashita (AM) | +12 | 84 |
