Pavit's victory wasn't ever in doubt. He was the runaway leader at the end of the second round after shooting a brilliant 65 and never looked back nor opened the door, even slightly, for the chasing pack to sneak in.

His coach Lervit Bulsombut, however, says he still has work to do. "There are still plenty of weaknesses in his game. His swing is only 50 per cent. Sometimes he feels tired after playing a few holes and begins to make mistakes. He cannot afford to do that if he wants to play collegiate golf in the US or turn pro in two years' time. It will be like a boy taking on the men," he said.

The 16-year-old, who had an even-par 72 yesterday, made the right selection of clubs and found a way out whenever he was in trouble. However, on the par-5 16th hole Pavit's second shot got stuck on the side of the right-side bunker. It was a difficult shot by any standards, and the young Thai chipped badly, with his ball only advancing by about a foot.

He chipped again and two-putted for a bogey. "I don't know how the ball went there," he said, referring to the first chip.

"With hindsight, I think I would have hit my chip harder. May be a full swing next time. I was not afraid that the ball would drift down the slope. And when I putted, I thought the ball would go in. It missed by a hair's breadth.

"I was putting well all day, and it was quite unfortunate that I had bogeys on the par-5s," he said, talking about his other blemish on the 7th hole. "There I was quite lucky. The ball didn't go where I had intended. I nearly had an OB with my second," said Pavit, who hit a palm tree with his third and managed to land his ball on the green with his fourth.

On the plus side, the Bangkokian sank a sensational 30-foot birdie on the 13th hole. "I read the line for a long time, and I was quite thrilled to see the ball taking the line and going in," said Pavit, who had also birdied earlier on the third hole.

"I gained lot of confidence playing on this difficult course. My scores were good. My father especially was shocked looking

at my scores. I'm going to celebrate tonight with my friends," said Pavit, who is planning to play in the World Junior Championships in San Diego and also the British Boys' Championship in August.

Sahanpan Meesawad, who was in fifth place going into yesterday's final round, shot a 69 to take the title in the boy's B flight.

Thailand's Schbongkosh Preamchi won the girl's A flight title with an aggregate of 303. Chirapat Jaojavanil took the pennant in the girl's B flight.

(Results: 10B scoreboard)

George Cheriyan

The Nation

Hua Hin