In 2019, Tiger Woods did the unthinkable at age 43 by winning his fifth green jacket at Augusta National. In Thailand, a 14-year-old Pongsapak “Fifa” Laopakdee watched on TV as the golf icon of partial Thai descent celebrated his 15th major championship. It was well past midnight, but Fifa had no plans of sleeping.
“It was worth it,” Laopakdee said. “I think I cried because all of the things he’d been through and being able to come back and win one of the most prestigious events, it’s one of those comeback stories.”
Now a 20-year-old Arizona State junior, Laopakdee won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last month and therefore will compete in the Masters and the Open Championship himself next year. He will be the first amateur from Thailand to play in the Masters, the tournament that got him into golf in the first place.
“It’s just one of those events that you put in your calendar every year and it was a reminder of why I play this sport and what I want to be when I grow up,” Laopakdee said. “It’s just amazing to follow in [my favorite players’] footsteps and play in the Masters next year.”
Soccer fans might recognize Laopakdee’s nickname. His dad loved soccer, and was between nicknaming his son after FIFA or UEFA, two of the sport’s prominent governing bodies. In the end, Laopakdee says he’s glad his dad chose Fifa.
But shortly after Laopakdee was born, the family fell in love with golf when they watched Woods play in the Masters.
“In junior golf I saw eight-shot comebacks and 10-shot comebacks. It’s just another day of golf so I just tried to go out there, have fun and do my best.”
Fifa Laopakdee
“Even though I was a little kid and barely knew anything, just watching him on TV was super inspirational and made me fall in love with the game,” Laopakdee said.
When Laopakdee’s brother was born, his parents nicknamed him Putter.
Laopakdee’s first competitive experience was when he was 6 years old at a par-3 course. It wasn’t a triumphant debut.
“I think on the first hole I hit more than 10 times in the greenside bunker,” Laopakdee said. “My dad took the ball and dropped it out of the bunker for me. I think I cried.”
But he stuck with it and improved. In Thailand, he played with many talented players, including Eila Galitsky, who’s currently sixth in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking. At 13, Laopakdee joined Thailand’s national team, on which he played and became friends with Jeeno Thitikul, who’s now the world’s top-ranked female player.
“She played a huge role for me,” Laopakdee said. “I try to mimic her attitude on the course. She’s who I got the singing from and I try to mimic her smile regardless if she hits a good shot or a bad shot.”
Yes, Laopakdee sings on the golf course.
“I sing to keep me loose and keep my brain free,” he said.
In 2019, Laopakdee caught the eye of Arizona State head coach Matt Thurmond at the European Young Masters. Thurmond was there to watch future Sun Devils Josele Ballester and Michael Mjaaseth, but the Thai player in their group also caught his eye.
“He has as good of a swing to look at as you’re going to find,” Thurmond said. “He also plays pretty aggressively. Green light most of the time and foot on the gas.”
Laopakdee went on to finish third that week. Four years later, he started his freshman year at ASU.
He got off to a hot start, winning the Maui Jim Intercollegiate in his debut. But a finger injury in the fall that required surgery sidelined him for months. When he returned, he lacked confidence and struggled to crack the tournament lineup.
“I didn’t have fun,” Laopakdee said. “I didn’t smile on the course. I didn’t have confidence. I had a lot of doubts.”
Laopakdee’s struggles continued into his sophomore season.
“I was pretty frustrated with him,” Thurmond said. “I thought he played indecisively, lacked confidence and was not mentally strong.”
In February, after Laopakdee finished T88 out of 123 at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate in Hawaii, Thurmond decided to challenge him. He instituted a grueling, two-man qualifier comprising nine rounds of golf for the final spot in the Cabo Collegiate.
“When you finally show up to Cabo you’re going to feel like you earned it,” Thurmond said. “To his credit, he embraced it.”
With each qualifying round, Laopakdee’s confidence grew. He qualified for Cabo and tied for first in the tournament. Although he lost in a playoff to Tyler Weaver, his confidence was restored.
“It gave me all this confidence that helped me play consistently good the rest of the year,” Laopakdee said.
That confidence led to a victory in April at the Thunderbird Collegiate. In August, he qualified for match play in the U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club, setting the stage for his Asia-Pacific Amateur triumph at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai.
But it wasn’t easy. Entering the final round, he was six strokes behind Japan’s Taisei Nagasaki, who set the tournament’s 54-hole scoring record. Still, he wasn’t discouraged.
“Anything can happen,” Laopakdee said. “In junior golf I saw eight-shot comebacks and 10-shot comebacks. It’s just another day of golf so I just tried to go out there, have fun and do my best.”
Laopakdee forced a playoff with Nagasaki after birdieing the 17th and 18th holes. After both players birdied the first two playoff holes, Laopakdee prevailed on the third playoff hole with his fifth birdie in a row. He was singing the whole time.
“I sang Metallica to hype me up and Bruno Mars for the happy vibes,” he said.
After Laopakdee became the first Thai player to win the championship, his phone was exploding with congratulatory messages from friends and family back home.
“It’s such an honor,” Laopakdee said. “I’m grateful I was born and raised as a Thai person. All of the Thai people have been great to me and this win means the whole world to me.”
Laopakdee has a packed collegiate schedule before the Masters in April. When asked what he’s looking forward to most when he gets to Augusta, his answer indicated he’s keeping the pressure off.
“To be honest with you, the thing I’m looking forward to is the [pimento cheese] sandwich,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.”
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Top: Fifa Laopakdee’s victory in the 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship earned him spots in the 2026 Masters and Open Championship.
Asia-Amateur championship photo