Thailand's Sarit Suwannarut carded a second round 66 (-6) to lead the International Series Philippines by four strokes at the halfway stage.
Suwannarut opened with a stunning eight-under 64 on Thursday before following that up with seven birdies and a single bogey at Sta Elena Golf Club in Manila.
Local hero Miguel Tabuena - who managed a hole-in-one on Friday - and Japan's Kazuki Higa are in a tie for second on 10-under.
But streaks ahead is the Thai pro, who has been in excellent form recently, finishing fourth, T11th and T9th in his past three starts.
Before that, Suwannarut had only managed two other top-20 results on the Asian Tour this term, with three top-fives from three appearances on the All Thailand Golf Tour in 2025.
Commenting on his performance so far, Suwannarut said: “You just have to focus only on what you have to do, and hit your shot. I have been playing good golf for the past four weeks, so I know what I can do.
“I know my game well, and I’ve just tried to stay calm and focus on what I need to do. So far, it’s been working nicely, and I hope to keep the momentum going over the next two days.”
As a result of his upturn in form, the 27-year-old could make significant progress in the International Series Rankings at just the right time. There are seven events remaining on the Asian Tour this year, and four of them - including the Philippines - are International Series tournaments.
Should a pro without existing LIV Golf membership top the International Series rankings after the PIF Saudi International in November, they will earn a place in the 54-hole league for 2026.
Meanwhile, many current LIV players are in the field this week, and a handful are not too far behind Suwannarut with the weekend still to play.
Patrick Reed is the closest on eight-under after his round of 66. That has left the American in a share of ninth.
Elsewhere, the South African pair of Dean Burmester and Charl Schawartzel are on seven-under alongside the likes of Steve Lewton, who carded the low round of the day via a nine-under 63.
Among a star group of players on five-under is Kevin Na, Peter Uihlein, Marc Leishman and Wesley Bryan. Unfortunately for the other half of the Bryan Bros, George, he narrowly missed the cut and will not be competing at the weekend.
And while the likes of Dustin Johnson, Richard Bland Chieh-po Lee and Caleb Surratt (four-under) are safely through, Louis Oosthuizen and Anthony Kim are among the notable names to have missed the cut at the International Series Philippines.
INTERNATIONAL SERIES PHILIPPINES LEADERBOARD
- -14 Sarit Suwannarut
- -10 Miguel Tabuena
- -10 Kazuki Higa
- -9 Yosuke Asaji
- -9 Soomin Lee
- -9 Wei-hsuan Wang
- -9 Matthew Cheung
- -9 Angelo Que
- -8 Denzel Ieremia
- -8 Patrick Reed
- -8 Gaganjeet Bhullar
