The club of consecutive winners of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship gained a second member this Sunday. Fifa Laopakdee successfully defended her title on the South Course at Te Arai Links in New Zealand and has joined Hideki Matsuyama as the only players able to string together two victories in this championship. The Thai finished the tournament with a 70-stroke round, one under par, to win with 278 and −6, three strokes ahead of New Zealander Zack Swanwick.
The prize, beyond the trophy and sharing a page of history with Matsuyama, has two extraordinary destinations: Augusta National and St Andrews. Laopakdee earns an invitation to the the 2027 Masters and an exemption to play in the 155th edition of The Open. She thus returns to the two majors whose door she opened with her win last year in Dubai and where she made her debut this season, at Augusta and Royal Birkdale
“It’s incredible to join that club. Hideki has played a huge role in golf in Japan and also in Asia. To be able to win two years in a row like him is a great honour. He’s an outstanding player and I hope to follow in his footsteps,” Laopakdee said
Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, achieved his two consecutive wins in 2010 in Japan and 2011 in Singapore. Since then, no one had repeated the feat
One hole, four strokes and a championship that changes hands
Laopakdee did not start Sunday in the most comfortable position. The final-year Arizona State player teed off two strokes behind Swanwick, tied with another New Zealander, Cooper Moore. And she didn’t start in full flow: after the first eight holes she had given another two shots back to the course
Her response from there was fabulous. Three under par over the last ten holes, with birdies at 9, 11 and 17, to recover ground and end up putting distance between them. The decisive blow, however, came on the last hole. Nerves and pressure played a bad trick on everyone and there were no great scores on the final day
On the tee of the 11th, a par four, Swanwick still held a two-shot lead. His second shot ended in a bunker beside the green and his chip ran out over the front. The New Zealander ended up carding a triple bogey. Laopakdee, meanwhile, holed her birdie putt. Four strokes in it. From being two adrift to being two in front
The Thai admitted the change was felt internally too. Her way of dealing with it was to try not to change her attitude
“It was a massive change in the dynamic, that’s clear. My hand was shaking after I holed the 11th putt, because I knew I was the leader. I kept telling myself I was going to keep playing as if I were behind, that in my head he was still ahead. I had to keep being aggressive, but also play smart. I think I did it perfectly down the stretch,” she said
Laopakdee needed a win like that and to prove to herself she was still capable of winning after a year that, she said, had not met her expectations
“I think this year I’m more proud of myself because I never stopped believing in myself, although it’s been a tough year. I hadn’t won anything at all since March. I kept telling myself I still had that golf,” she noted
The week had begun with a display that seemed to foreshadow another favourable outcome. Laopakdee opened on Thursday with a 63, eight under par, a card that featured an eagle from 83 yards, around 76 metres, at the 9th. At the 15th she was close to repeating the feat and left the ball almost given for a birdie. That start didn’t spare her having to come back on Sunday, but it did show the golf she had within
For Zack Swanwick, the outcome was bitter, although his runner-up spot also carries a piece of history: it is the best result by a New Zealander in the seventeen-year history of the championship. A birdie at the 18th allowed him to finish with 75 strokes and remain alone in that second position, at −3
His route to the lead on Saturday had been remarkable. He began the tournament at four over par after fifteen holes and played the next 39 in eleven under par, a run that put him in front before the final round. On Sunday he couldn’t complete the job in front of his home crowd
Australian Kayun Mudadana finished third, with 282 strokes and −2, after a final round of 67. Cooper Moore was fourth at −1, while Ryan Xie completed the top five at even par. Only the top four managed to finish the championship under par
The next edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur will be held from 28 to 31 October 2027 at Hoiana Shores Golf Club in Hoi An, Vietnam. Before then, Laopakdee will have two other notable dates on her calendar. She has again earned the right to test herself against the best at Augusta and, this time, also at St Andrews.
