Rafa Cabrera Bello holds a two-shot lead at the halfway stage of the 2023 Thailand Classic after finishing his second round with a flourish.
Four-time DP World Tour winner Cabrera Bello started brightly on Friday morning but his two early birdies at the 11th and 12th were cancelled out by a double-bogey five on the difficult 17th.
The 38-year-old staged an impressive recovery, though, firing seven birdies in his last ten holes to sign for a 65 and go into the weekend on 13 under par.
Fabrizio Zanotti is Cabrera Bello's nearest challenger on 11 under after making an eagle, four birdies and one bogey in his 67.
Kazuki Higa, Thriston Lawrence, Alexander Knappe, Yannik Paul, Thorbjørn Olesen and Christoffer Bring were then in a six-way tie for third another shot further back, one clear of the group containing home favourite Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
Starting from the tenth tee at 07.55, Cabrera Bello made back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th to climb to eight under par.
But he surrendered a double bogey at the par-three 17th - Amata Spring Country Club's signature hole, which has a floating green - to return to where he started the day.
The Spaniard bounced back in style, making a hat-trick of gains at the 18th, first and second to repair the damage.
And the Ryder Cup star kept his foot on the gas, picking up four successive birdies from the fifth courtesy of some wonderful putting.
Cabrera Bello gave himself another outside birdie chance at the ninth - his last hole of the day - but had to settle for a closing par and the clubhouse lead.
None of the later starters were able to catch Cabrera Bello, who was pleased with his response to the double bogey - his only blemish of the week so far.
He said: "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 the 18th 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."
