Cabrera Bello overcomes wobble to take Thailand control

Spain's Rafa Cabrera Bello overcame falling foul of the iconic 17th hole at Amata Spring Country Club to claim the halfway lead in the Thailand Classic.

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After starting from the 10th and making birdies on the 11th and 12th, Cabrera Bello ran up a double bogey on the 17th, which has an island green only accessible by boat, but responded with seven birdies in the next nine holes and covered his inward nine in just 30 shots.

The resulting seven-under 65 gave the former Ryder Cup player a halfway total of 13-under-par and two-shot lead over Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti, with Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen part of a six-strong group on 10-under.

Waterford's Gary Hurley carded an excellent five-under 67 that lifted him up to six-under overall, in a tie for 24th.

Holywood 20-year-old Tom McKibbin just missed the cut after a second consecutive 71 left him on two-under, while Kinsale man John Murphy had a rough five-over 77 that ruined his chances of making the weekend. He signed off on three-over-par.

Cabrera Bello was able to reflect on a good day's work however, telling reporters afterwards: "The 17th is a tough hole and it was pretty windy. I got a wind gust, I didn't hit that bad of a shot, but it is what it is.

"I just kept my head down and kept focusing on what I was doing. The birdie on 18 put me right back on track and I played an excellent front nine.

"I've been doing a lot of work over the break on my swing and trying to make it better. I feel some weeks it really clicks, other weeks it's not quite there.

"I'm trending in the right direction and happy the swing is feeling good this week and I'm making good scores."

Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat lies four shots off the lead after adding a bogey-free 67 to his