Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra opened up a five-stroke lead after the second round of the US$25 million LIV Golf Invitational Bangkok in Pathum Thani yesterday.
The 22-year-old Spaniard, the field's youngest player, fired a record-tying nine-under-par 63 for a 16-under 128 total at the par-72 Stonehill Golf Course.
The closest pursuers to Lopez-Chacarra, who is just 18 holes away from a spectacular breakthrough victory, are a group of four players at 11-under 133: Richard Bland; Sihwan Kim; Harold Varner III; and Patrick Reed. The five-stroke lead is the largest after any round in LIV Golf's inaugural season.
"Just try to have fun and then play to not make bogeys," said Lopez-Chacarra, who tied Dustin Johnson for the lowest LIV Golf round in relation to par. "Kind of play smart on the course -- and that's what I've started doing this week."
Lopez-Chacarra's round included seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five sixth.
He was a first-team All-American in college at Oklahoma State and joined LIV over the PGA Tour when he turned pro this summer.
Looking ahead to today's final round, Bland said, "Going to need a low one and a little bit of help. But the way he played today, it doesn't look like he's gonna give us any, so we've got to go get him."
Thai stars Sadom Kaewkanjana was tied 28th on four-under 143 while Phachara Khongwatmai was joint 32nd on three-under 144.
"I'm happy with the way I managed to keep my score under par," said Sadom. "I did better than the first round and that was my goal.
Meanwhile Phachara said, "My problem is still my putting game. But I still have 18 holes left, hopefully I can play better."
Branden Grace entered yesterday's round with a share of the lead and a chance to catch Johnson atop the season-long individual points race.
Three holes into his round, he was forced to withdraw with an acute muscle strain on his left side, leaving his status in doubt for next week's event in Jeddah, where the individual champion will be decided and its $30 million purse distributed to the top-three players.
In addition to the healthy individual lead, Lopez-Chacarra's Fireballs GC have a substantial lead in the team competition.
Adding Carlos Ortiz's 65 and Abraham Ancer's 68 to Lopez-Chacarra's 63, the Fireballs shot 20 under in the second round and are at 34 under, seven shots ahead of Niblicks GC. Cleeks GC are in third place, another shot back.