Thai golf experienced one of its great days this Sunday. Fifa Laopakdee, 20 years old and with a beaming smile, conquered the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship 2025 at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, living up to his name with a video game-like comeback, recovering six strokes in the final round and securing a memorable victory. Thanks to this triumph, he becomes the first amateur from Thailand to compete in the Masters at Augusta and also the first Thai to win the prestigious tournament.
The feat has all the ingredients. Laopakdee, third at the start of the day, closed with a brilliant video game-like comeback from six strokes behind, four under par, while Japanese player Taisei Nagasaki, only 16 years old, slipped to a 74 (+2). Fifa forced the playoff with consecutive birdies on holes 17 and 18, and in the playoff, he left no room for doubt: three birdies in three holes to be crowned champion. Fifa is a student at Arizona State University, started the tournament just outside the top 50 in the world amateur ranking, and also has two collegiate victories in the United States.
“It’s incredible. I think all Thai fans have been waiting a long time to see a Thai amateur compete in the Masters and the Open,” he said emotionally. “This is for them, for my parents, for my country.”
Laopakdee, who had already competed in the Asia-Pacific four times, fulfilled a personal promise. “I told my coach, Matt Thurmond, that I would achieve it. Coach, I did it,” he exclaimed, looking at the camera right after collecting the trophy.
The Thai follows in the footsteps of Chinese player Wenyi Ding, champion in 2024 and also a player from Arizona State, confirming the strength of the university program in the Asia-Pacific region. With his triumph, Fifa has also earned a ticket to the Open Championship 2026, where he will once again test his talent against the world’s best.
Fifa will become the seventh Thai in history to play at Magnolia Lane. The best result so far was recorded by Kiradech Aphibarnrat with a T15 back in 2016. Why not dream of another milestone in Thailand’s history?
The list of Thais who have played the tournament in chronological order:
- Sukree Onsham
- Thongchai Jaidee
- Prayad Marksaeng
- Thaworn Wiratchant
- Kiradech Aphibarnrat
- Jazz Janewattananond
