Two polished rounds have put Pavit Tangkamolprasert tied for the lead at International Series Morocco presented by Visit Morocco, with the Thai star earning a weekend reward he could hardly have scripted better: a pairing with Bubba Watson, a player he has admired for years.
Pavit, a two-time Asian Tour champion, followed his opening 65 with a three-under-par 70 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to join Watson at the top of the leaderboard. Korean GC’s Younghan Song sits one shot back, while defending champion Scott Vincent is two shots off the pace. After slipping to one over par through his first eight holes, Pavit steadied himself before picking up shots late in the round, including birdies on 17 and 18.
“It was a good comeback today. I didn’t start my round well, made some mistakes, but I still tried to keep it in the fairway and hit it in the right positions,” Pavit said.
For all the talk of leaderboard position, Pavit lit up when discussing the company he will keep in the third round. Playing alongside Watson has brought back memories of the 2012 Thailand Golf Championship at Amata Spring Country Club, where Pavit stayed on after his own week had ended to watch the American up close. Watson finished runner-up that year behind Charl Schwartzel.
“Looking forward to play with him, I always want to play with the world’s best golfers,” Pavit said. “I like how he drives the ball, because I saw him playing when I was young, and he could curve the ball, it was interesting.”
Pavit even has a photograph from that week that he hopes to show Watson when their paths cross this weekend, a small keepsake now given fresh meaning by a final-group pairing in Morocco.
With a stacked leaderboard heading into the weekend, Pavit is embracing the occasion.
“The International Series has top-quality players,” he said. “Everyone has a chance to win, so I’m looking forward to playing on the weekend.”
