June 4: Runchanapong Youprayong was hoping to get into the field after failing to secure his place in the US$500,000 am green IGPL Bharath Classic despite finishing third in last week’s Asian Development Tour (ADT) event at Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort. Not only were his prayers answered, but the Thai star also made the most of the situation by jumping to the top of the leaderboard.

Runchanapong shot a seven-under-par 65 in the morning session of the first round of the US$500,000 tournament that is co-sanctioned by the Indian Premier Golf League (IGPL) to edge ahead of Australia’s Will Florimo (66), and the two red-hot players on the Asian Tour – South Africa’s Ian Snyman and New Zealand’s Nick Voke (both 67). Another Aussie, Jed Morgan, joined them in tied third place after the morning session with a bogey-free 67.

The 26-year-old from Bangkok needed to finish in the top-two of the am green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars 2026, but played his last 10 holes to one-over par, while Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman birdied the last hole to finish ahead of Runchanapong.

Runchanapong, who started from the first tee, birdied two of the first three holes before making his only bogey of the day on the par-4 fourth. He was six-under par for his last 11 holes.

“I felt like I hit in good positions quite a lot, and I planned my way around the golf course pretty well,” said Runchanapong, who also has three top-three finishes on the All Thailand Golf Tour (ATGT) this year. “That was the key takeaway that I learned from last week – where I want to leave the golf shot.

“I made a lot of birdies, but my favourite one was the chip-in on the ninth hole. It was playing downwind and I hit it long, over the green. I didn’t calculate that well. It was like a 15-yard shot from the rough and I holed it.

“The course is a bit different from what we played last week, because for the first two rounds, they shortened most tees. Today, they tipped it out every hole and the wind felt much stronger, which makes it a little bit more difficult.”

Florimo, winner of the Heritage Classic on the PGA Tour of Australasia earlier this season, made three birdies on either side of the golf course in his 66.

“I had a week off, which was nice. I did not touch any clubs. It was really nice from tee-to-green today and I hit it really well. But I only holed one 16-footer, and I did not touch the hole from outside five feet any other time,” said the Brisbane resident.

South African Snyman has been in fantastic form with three top-10s in his last three starts, a run that included his maiden Asian Tour title in the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open last month, and the 30-year-old brought his form to Morocco.

Bogey-free for the round, the 30-year-old said the stunning Mazagan Beach course reminded him of courses back home in Cape Town area.

“I am happy. Kept it low and found lots of greens and fairways. This almost feels like I’m back in Cape Town. I think the grass is similar, and the wind was kind of similar. So, just put the ball on the back foot, trap it, and yeah, the wind doesn’t do too much when you hit it low,” said the highest-ranked player (No296) in the field.

Voke, who hasn’t finished outside the top-26 this year in 11 starts, barring a disappointing tied 53rd place at the 105th New Zealand Open presented by Millbrook Resort, finished his round with his only bogey of the day on the par-5 18th hole, which was playing downwind.

“A little bittersweet. I played well. It was solid, and hit a lot of really good shots and holed some really good putts. The bogey on the last, a downwind par-5 coming home, left a little sour taste in the mouth, but I’ll still have a nap tonight and have a few chocolate bars,” said the 31-year-old, who is still searching for his first win on the Asian Tour.

After back-to-back tournaments at Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort, built on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, the Asian Tour will move to Rabat next week for the US$2 million International Series Morocco presented by Visit Morocco.