Atthaya Thitikul Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

How Amy Yang became the unexpected—and grateful—winner of the CME Group Tour Championship

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 04:40:25 +0000

Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship became a showdown of two of the LPGA’s top players without a major. South Korea’s Amy Yang and Japan’s Nasa Hataoka had posted some dazzlingly low scores all week at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., and continued to do so in the final round of the LPGA’s 2023 season finale.

The two combined to make just five bogeys over four rounds. In the end, it was Yang, 34, emerging the champion—and taking home the $2 million first-place prize money payout—by grabbing her fifth career victory but first since 2019.

Leaderboard

Win: Amy Yang -27 (final-round 66)

T-2: Nasa Hataoka -24 (69)

T-2: Alison Lee -24 (66)

4: Lilia Vu -21 (65)

5: Atthaya Thitikul -20 (66)

How it happened

Hataoka and Yang began the day tied at 21 under, with Hataoka separating herself early, taking a three-stroke lead through the first five holes. Yet Yang fought back with three birdies in a four-hole stretch, from the seventh through 10th holes, to knot things up at 23 under.

Yang then took the lead outright with Sunday’s shot of the day, a hole-out eagle on the par-4 13th from about 80 yards to move to 25 under.

“I saw it landed really close to the pin,” Yang said. “And just like a split second, I thought, oh, it’s going to go in. That definitely was good momentum.”

Amy Yang is putting up a fight at @CMEGroupLPGA ?

Watch now on NBC! pic.twitter.com/jmLPeXBya3

— LPGA (@LPGA) November 19, 2023

While Hataoka tied Yang on 14 with a birdie, the six-time LPGA winner’s putter failed her down the stretch. Hataoka missed a pair of looks inside 10 feet on the 16th and 17th, after carding her second bogey of the tournament on the par-3 15th.

Yang, meanwhile, birdied the 17th to take a two-shot lead to the home hole, playing the last as even-keeled as her swing’s tempo. Her birdie on the last gave her a closing 66 and a three-stroke victory, with several tour friends popping open champagne bottles before the ball even found the bottom of the cup, then stormed the green to greet Yang with a meaningful champagne shower.

Amy Yang and Nasa Hataoka (left) turned the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship into a (mostly) two-player affair – Michael Reaves

What it means

It wasn’t until her 16th season on the LPGA Tour that Yang finally won a tournament on American soil, breaking through in her adopted home state of Florida. Yang had been a consistent force on the LPGA since her rookie season in 2008, posting 21 top-10s at LPGA majors, including a pair of T-4s at this year’s Chevron Championship and AIG Women’s Open. But she was never able to claim a breakout win.

While the Tour Championship isn’t a major, it pays like one. The $2 million prize, the largest paycheck of Yang’s career, squeaks her just past Minjee Lee to 11th on the career money list with $13,882,919. Yang is now second among all South Korean golfers in LPGA career earnings, behind only LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park ($18.3 million).

Yang won convincingly, shattering the previous scoring record at the CME by four strokes, besting Jin Young Ko’s 23-under victory in 2021.

Best of the rest

Only the end of the season could stop Lee’s electric run of play. The American finished tied with Hataoka for second with a bogey-free 66, ending her year with only three players beating her in her final three LPGA events along with a record-setting victory at the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series event in Saudi Arabia. With PGA Tour legend Fred Couples as her new cornerman, Lee unlocked a level of self-belief that has her playing some of the best golf on the planet and putting her on an early track to make the 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup team. It would be the first time Lee has played Solheim since her rookie season in 2015.

Atthaya Thitikul, Amy Yang and Lilia Vu pose with their respective hardware after the end of the CME Group Tour Championship – Michael Reaves

Meanwhile, the Vare Trophy and Player of the Year leaders going into the Tour Championship won their respective season-long awards. Atthaya Thitikul (69.53), with her 13th top-10 of the season after a fifth-place finish this week, won the Vare by a mere 0.13 scoring average over Hyo Joo Kim (69.67), who ended up T-13. Lilia Vu, with a fourth-place finish at the CME, became the first American to win Rolex Player of the Year since Stacy Lewis in 2014, beating Celine Boutier by 34 points.

Main Image: Michael Reaves

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Thai teen Atthaya Thitikul all set for another bumper year after setting the course alight in 2022

Matt Smith — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 12:01:35 +0000

Atthaya Thitikul may only be 19, but it seems like she has been at the top echelons of the golfing scene for years.

Well, the reason for that is she kinda has.

She became the youngest golfer to win a professional tournament at the Ladies European Tour’s Thailand Championship back in 2017, aged just 14, and never looked back, capping a sensational 2022 with her first victory on the LPGA Tour at the JTBC Classic, rose to the NO. 1 ranking in the world and was named LPGA Rookie of the Year.

Now she is ready to break more new ground in 2023, starting at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International this week.

“I had a really good off-season,” the now world No. 4 said. “I spent time with my family before getting back to work for this event.

“I’ve been working with my coach on what I have to do and what I have to focus more on this year.”

Thitikul is aiming to go one better at Royal Greens this year after finishing second to Lydia Ko on her last visit in 2021 (she also lost out to Marianne Skarpnord at the Aramco Team Series – London that year).

“It’s nice to come back here for the Ladies European Tour events. It seems like my home so I am always grateful to compete in Saudi again because of everything they are doing here to elevate women’s golf more and more every day, every year.”

With the prize money on offer at the Saudi Ladies now up to $5 million to match the men’s event here, it is certainly clear the work Aramco, Golf Saudi and the Kingdom’s PIF are doing, and it is not lost on Thitikul in the slightest.

“Actually I’ve got to say, it’s amazing and it’s crazy that men’s and women’s equal prize money,” she said. “We haven’t seen this before. I think it’s a good sign to have Aramco help women’s golf get better and bigger worldwide.

“A lot of LPGA players are now coming to this event, so hopefully we can have even more tournaments like this in the future through the Ladies European Tour an LPGA together.

Despite her loss to Ko, Thitikul has only fond memories of her time here.

“I remember that final round with Lydia. We both had good rounds but I just couldn’t beat her. She shot like 6-, 7-under and I shot like 5 or 6. That was an incredible memory.

“I’m just young and a new face, getting to play with all the top players, it’s a really amazing experience for me. But I still have a lot to learn from them.

“I think the LET is also elevating the game and it is getting bigger and bigger.”

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Thai teen sensation Thitikul and LET Order of Merit winner Grant make Aramco Saudi Ladies International field strongest ever

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 12 Feb 2023 17:56:22 +0000

The star-studded field for this year’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International has been further strengthened with world No. 4 Atthaya Thitikul and 2022 LET Order of Merit winner Linn Grant confirming their places in a strong line-up which now features a record 15 out of the world’s top 30.

Taking place at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City from February 16-19, the tournament is the third stop in a record-breaking 2023 LET season, featuring 30 events across 21 countries with a total prize fund of €35 million up for grabs.

The trailblazing event made a strong statement in the world of golf, signalling its steadfast commitment to women’s golf through a prize purse boost to $5million, the largest outside of the majors. The purse matches the men’s event, the PIF Saudi International.

Thai 19-year-old Thitikul is the latest big name to strengthen the world-class field competing for the bumper purse. She said: “It has been a while since I last competed in Saudi Arabia. I remember playing at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in 2021 and had strong results in both events. I hope to go one better than I did at the 2021 Aramco Saudi Ladies International and enjoy a great start to my 2023 season.”

Thitikul has genuine star quality and golfing credentials to match. In her rookie year of the LPGA last year, she claimed two victories and 16 top-10 finishes and unsurprisingly took home the 2022 Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year award. The young superstar also performed impressively in the majors, securing three top-10 finishes in five majors last year.

Before her time in the LPGA, Thitikul wrote her name in the history books of the LET. In 2021, she became the youngest player to win the LET’s Race to Costa del Sol while also taking back the Rookie of the Year and Player’s Player of the Year titles. She was also the youngest golfer, male or female, to win a professional golf tournament when she won the LET’s Thailand Championship 2017 at just 14 years of age.

The former world No.1 is only the second player under 20 to claim the ranking other than Lydia Ko, who will also compete in Saudi.

The pair will be joined by Swedish star Grant, the world no. 28 who claimed four wins and nine top-10 finishes last season to take home the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, Rookie of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year titles.

The Swede also made history last year when she became the first woman to win an official event on the DP World Tour when she secured victory at the Volvo Scandinavian Mixed.

The complete list of the 15 of the world’s top 30 players are:
Lydia Ko (1)
Atthaya Thitikul (4)
Lexi Thompson (7)
In Gee Chun (8)
Hyo-Joo Kim (9)
Nasa Hataoka (10)
Leona Maguire (11)
Celine Boutier (12)
Charley Hull (13)
Xiyu Lin (14)
Danielle Kang (17)
Hannah Green (19)
Ashleigh Buhai (21)
Georgia Hall (24)
Linn Grant (28)

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At the LPGA 2022 finale, four players are in the hunt for Player of the Year. Here’s how each can win

Matt Smith — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 06:14:53 +0000

By Keely Levins
There’s a lot on the line at this week’s CME Group Tour Championship, specifically a $2 million first-place prize money payout to the winner of the LPGA Tour’s season finale at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. But for four players, there’s still more at stake, specifically the tour’s Rolex Player of the Year award and the valuable Hall of Fame point it comes with.

While the PGA Tour determines its POY honour via player vote, the LPGA uses a season-long points race with a foursome of golfers still able to claim the top honour. Lydia Ko enters the week with a one-point lead over Minjee Lee, 150-149, and a 20-point lead over Brooke Henderson and Atthaya Thitikul.

Brooke Henderson. Steve Dykes

The winner of the CME earns 30 points, so if Ko or Lee claims the title this week, they are guaranteed to also win POY. If Henderson or Thitikul wins the CME, they can claim the top player honour if both Ko and Lee finished third or worse.

There are various other scenarios that can play out that would secure the POY award for any of the four, as this graphic from the LPGA shows:

With the points race so tight, it’s natural to ask what happens if there’s a tie: Two players can win player of the year. It actually happened quite recently, in 2017 when So Yeon Ryu and Sung Hyun Park tied for points at the end of the season and shared player of the year honours.

Minjee Lee

Winning the POY award, of course, helps define a player’s legacy, but it also comes with something more tangible in the form of a point towards a player’s bid to make the LPGA Hall of Fame. Ko, a nine-year tour veteran, currently has 22 HoF points to her credit, with players needing 27 to qualify. Lee has 10, Henderson has 14 and Thitikul has 2.

Only four players met the points total since it was updated in 1999: Annika Sorenstam, who was inducted in 2003; Karrie Webb (2005); Se Ri Pak (2007); and Inbee Park (2016).

Ko has a second chance at winning a Hall of Fame points this week if she can pull out the Vare Trophy, which honours the player who has the lowest scoring average for the season. Ko won the Vare in 2021 and currently leads the category with a 69.049 average, .386 lower than Thitikul. It’s not an insurmountable difference, but would require Ko to have one of her worst performance week in quite a while. If Ko, 25, could win the POY and the Vare, she would be just three points away from qualifying for the LPGA Hall.

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The LPGA season isn’t over, but Atthaya Thitikul already clinched rookie of the year honours

Golf Digest Middle East — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 10:04:53 +0000

By Keely Levins
The youngest player to ever win a professional golf tournament is now the LPGA’s newest Rookie of the Year. With two events remaining on the LPGA calendar, Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, who goes by Jeeno, already has accrued enough points to clinch the honour. When second-place Hye-Jin Choi withdrew from the Pelican Women’s Championship, her chances of catching Thitikul disappeared, making Thitikul the rookie of the year.

Thitikul, 19, is currently ranked No. 1 in the world and won twice on tour this year — the JTBC Classic and the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Both of her victories came from having to go to a playoff, first against Nanna Koerstz Madsen and then against Danielle Kang. She also collected 15 top-10 finishes during the year.

The road to the LPGA for Thitikul came via Q-School, after earning rookie of the year honours last year on the Ladies European Tour. She won twice on the LET as an amateur, and then twice again as a professional.

This is the second consecutive year that a player from Thailand has won the rookie award. Patty Tavatanakit won last year.

“It is such an honour to win the rookie of the year award, especially being the second consecutive player from Thailand to win this honour,” Thitikul said. “I’m happy to have made my home country proud. My rookie year has been really fun and memorable, but we still have a long way to go.”

Thitikul won the LET’s Thailand Championship when she was 14 years old, making her the youngest to ever win a professional event. She won the 2018 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship which gave her opportunities to play on the LPGA.

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Thai teenager Atthaya Thitikul joins Tiger Woods and Lydia Ko as youngest World No. 1s

Matt Smith — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 05:29:40 +0000

By Keely Levins
Last year the World No. 1 ranking was traded back and forth between Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko so often, it would’ve been hard to predict that there’d be a new No. 1 a year later who wasn’t either one of them. But with less than a month left in the 2022 season, neither Ko nor Korda are in the top spot, and the new World No. 1 wasn’t even playing on the LPGA in 2021.

Atthaya Thitikul, 19, is the new World No. 1, becoming just the second teenager to ever reach the top ranking, after Lydia Ko did so in 2015. Thitikul, Ko and Tiger Woods are the only golfers, male or female, to reach World No. 1 before age 22.

Although she’s a rookie, Thitikul made her presence known when she won the JTBC Classic in March. She finished in the top 10 seven more times before winning again in September at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. In her next three events, she finished in the top 10 each time, most recently finishing sixth at the BMW Ladies Championship.

A week after the BMW, the Rolex Women’s Rankings were recalculated and Thitikul rose above Jin Young Ko, unseating her as the No. 1 player in the world. Ko also played the BMW Ladies Championship, but withdrew due to injury.

Thitikul was measured in her response to becoming the top player in the world.

“It is very special to get to the top, but it is much harder to retain it,” Thitikul told the LPGA. “I still have a lot to learn from all the legends and current players both on and off the course. I will continue to work hard for my family, my team, my fans and my country.”

Thitikul has shown a level of maturity thus far in her fledgling career. After becoming the youngest player to win a professional tournament when she won a Ladies European Tour event as a 14-year-old, she resisted the temptation to turn professional. Instead she remained an amateur, traveled, played more events and turned pro three years later. In 2021, after having won four times on the LET, Thitikul went to LPGA Tour Q School and earned her card for this season.

Perhaps most surprising about her success in professional golf is that it all happened because of challenges early in her life. To cure constant colds, her doctor prescribed more time doing outdoor activities and told her it would help her health if she opted to play either tennis or golf. She chose golf even though no one in her family played the game. Now, less than a decade later, she’s the best female golfer in the world.

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Five players to watch at the 2022 Amundi Evian Championship

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 08:05:35 +0000

By Keely Levins
The LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour join up once again for the fourth women’s major of the year — the Amundi Evian Championship in France. The top five players of the world are in the 132-woman field, including 14 of the 15 players who have won on the LPGA in 2022. They’ll be playing for the $6.5 million purse. In 2021, the tournament ended in a playoff after Autralia’s Minjee Lee rallied down the stretch, making birdies on four of her last five holes. On the first extra hole, Lee made another birdie to beat South Korean Jeongeun Lee6 and secure her first major title after starting the day seven shots off the lead.

Here are five players we’ll be keeping an eye on as play begins at the Evian Resort Golf Club:

Minjee Lee

Minjee Lee. Sarah Stier

Lee is the defending champion, having started a major roll in France last summer that extended to 2022 with a win the US Women’s Open at Pine Needles and a T-2 at the KPMG Women’s PGA at Congressional. Outside of the majors, the 26-year-old Australian has added a win and two other top-three finishes to her 2022 accomplishments. Given her results, it’s no surprise she’s climbed up the rankings and is now No. 2 in the world. She’s comfortable at the Evian Resort Golf Club and she loves the majors, because she loves pressure. She might not need a playoff to get it done this year.

Leona Maguire

Leona Maguire. David Cannon

In 2021, Maguire shot a final-round 61 at the Evian. With that round, the Irishwoman tied the lowest round ever shot by a professional golfer — male or female — in a major. Fast-forward to 2022, and Maguire is no longer an LPGA Tour rookie, and no longer winless on tour, either. She claimed the LPGA Drive On title in February and finished T-2 last month at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give against a stacked leaderboard. Though Maguire, 27, hit a snag early this week when an airline lost her clubs on the way to France, she was able to find them and might be primed for another historic week.

Jennifer Kupcho

Jennifer Kupcho. Supplied

The 25-year-old from Colorado has already won three times in 2022, making her the most successful player on the LPGA Tour this season. One of those wins was a major: the Chevron Championship. Were she to win in France, it’d be the first time that an American has won two majors in one season since 1999, when Juli Inkster won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the US Women’s Open.

Jin Young Ko

Jin Young Ko. Douglas P DeFelice

The World No. 1 won the first event she played in 2022 but hasn’t won since. Her best finish in a major was fourth at the US Women’s Open, and she remains in the top five on tour in strokes gained/total on tour. Heading into the Evian, where Ko, 27, won in 2019, it feels like it’s time for the 2021 Player of the Year to win again.

Atthaya Thitikul

Atthaya Thitikul. Getty Images

The 19-year-old rookie from Thailand has one win this year and has been close on several other occasions. She quietly finsihed two shots back of In Gee Chun at the KPMG in June, her best career performance at a major. Her second-best finish was in 2021 at the Evian. She was four back of Lee, shooting three rounds in the 60s. Entering this year with more experience, she could be primed for her first major win.

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Nelly Korda, Annika Sorenstam get comeback tee times, and you’ve got to love this teen group in US Women’s Open

Golf Digest Middle East — Tue, 31 May 2022 09:42:20 +0000

Annika Sorenstam. Rich Schultz

By Tod Leonard
Nelly Korda, who has been sidelined since mid-March with a blood clot in her arm, will make her return to golf in the US Women’s Open on Thursday when the World No. 2 tees off in the afternoon at Pine Needles.

The USGA has announced the groupings for the first two rounds, and the younger of the Korda sisters will play with another golfer who has been batting an ailment of late. Danielle Kang is set to go off with Korda and Atthaya Thitikul at 2.24pm EDT, and the American star has been dealing with a back injury that continued to bother her at last week’s LPGA Match play, where she was eliminated after group play.

MORE: Meet Malak, the first Arab to play at US Women’s Open

In a tournament with numerous compelling storylines, World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam, 51, returns to the Women’s Open for the first time since 2008 after qualifying by capturing last year’s US Senior Women’s Open. She starts at 8:50am on Thursday with So Yeon Ru and 22-year-old amateur Ingrid Lindblad, the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world.

Michelle Wie West, champion of the 2014 Women’s Open, said last week that she would step away from competitive golf after this tournament, though she desires to also play in next year’s championship at Pebble Beach. Wie West is grouped with Brittany Lang and Sung Hyun Park at 1.36pm on Thursday.

World No. 1 Jin Young Ko is in a marquee group, of course, paired with Americans Lexi Thompson and Jennifer Kupcho at 8.39am. The defending champion from last year at The Olympic Club, Yuka Saso is playing at 8.22am with reigning US Women’s Amateur champ Jensen Castle and Anna Nordqvist, winner of the 2021 Women’s British Open.

In “The Kids Are Alright” grouping at 2.35pm on Thursday, the USGA put together 19-year-old pro Lucy Li, 19-year-old recent NCAA Championships individual winner Rose Zhang, and 16-year-old Anna Davis, who scored a shocking victory in April at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Round 1 tee times
Tee No. 1
7.15am – Allison Emrey, Nicole Garcia, Lauren Miller
7.26am – Kathleen Scavo, Alicia Joo, Jillian Hollis
7.37am – Grace Kim, Minsol Kim, Catherine Park
7.48am – Bailey Davis, Gemma Dryburgh, Amanda Doherty
7.59am – Allisen Corpuz, Annie Park, Lilia Vu
8.10am – Eun-Hee Ji, Andrea Lee, Ai Suzuki
8.21am – Alison Lee, Amy Olson, Matilda Castren
8.32am – Yuka Saso, Jensen Castle, Anna Nordqvist
8.43am – Mirim Lee, Angel Yin, Brittany Altomare
8.54am – Maja Stark, Pajaree Anannarukarn, Sakura Koiwai
9.05am – Hannah Green, Jessica Korda, Lydia Ko
9.16am – Pornanong Phatlum, Jaye Marie Green, Mayu Hamada
9.27am – Beth Wu, Auston Kim, Linnea Johansson
12.45pm – Blakesly Brock, Alexa Pano, Sofia Garcia
12.56pm – Gabriela Ruffels, Laney Frye, Cheyenne Knight
1.07pm – Robynn Ree, Muni He, Malak Bouraeda
1.18pm – Na Yeon Choi, Pernilla Lindberg, In-Kyung Kim
1.29pm – Momoko Ueda, Moriya Jutanugarn, Bohyun Park
1.40pm – Hinako Shibuno, Georgia Hall, Sophia Popov
1.51pm – In Gee Chun, Megan Khang, Ryann O’Toole
2.02pm – Mina Harigae, Carlota Ciganda, Hyejin Choi
2.13pm – Hyo Joo Kim, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Xiyu Janet Lin
2.24pm – Danielle Kang, Nelly Korda, Atthaya Thitikul
2.35pm – Rose Zhang, Lucy Li, Anna Davis
2.46pm – Lauren Hartlage, Ami Gianchandani, Julianne Alvarez
2.57pm – Jeonghyun Lee, Britney Yada, Yunxuan Michelle Zhang

Tee No. 9
7.00am – Anna Morgan, Gabby Lemieux, Ingrid Gutierrez
7.11am – Lauren Kim, Mariel Galdiano, Melanie Gree
7.33am – Caroline Masson, Angela Stanford, Mel Reid
7.44am – So Mi Lee,Pia Babnik, Louise Duncan
7.55am – Ariya Jutanugarn, Stacy Lewis, Yealimi Noh
8.06am – Marina Alex, Wayne, Ally Ewing, Gaby Lopez
8.17am – A Lim Kim, Mao Saigo, Madelene Sagstrom
8.28am – Nasa Hataoka, Minjee Lee, Brooke Henderson
8.39am – Lexi Thompson, Jennifer Kupcho, Jin Young Ko
8.50am – Annika Sorenstam, So Yeon Ryu, Ingrid Lindblad
9.01am – Tiffany Chan, Lauren Gomez, Daniela Darquea
9.12am – Nika Ito, Alyaa Abdul, Kylee Choi
12.30pm – Frida Kinhult, Saki Baba, Yuna Takagi
12.41pm – Isi Gabsa, Marissa Steen, Karissa Kilby
12.52pm – Lauren Kim, Wenbo Liu, Lydia Hall
1.03pm – Bianca Pagdanganan, Maude-Aimee LeBlanc, Sara Im
1.14pm – Stephanie Meadow, Annabell Fuller, Bronte Law
1.25pm – Pauline Roussin, Paula Reto, Bailey Shoemaker
1.36pm – Michelle Wie West, Brittany Lang, Sung Hyun Park
1.47pm – Hae Ran Ryu, Yuna Nishimura, Amy Yang
1.58pm – Celine Boutier, Patty Tavatanakit, Sei Young Kim
2.09pm – Lizette Salas, Leona Maguire, Jeongeun Lee6
2.20pm – Na Rin An, Ayaka Furue, Charley Hull
2.31pm – Alexandra Forsterling, Yuri Onishi, Smilla Sonderby
2.42pm – Ilhee Lee, Karen Kim, Natsumi Hayakawa

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Why the WAAP at Abu Dhabi G.C. this week is a likely barometer of professional things to come

Kent Gray — Sun, 07 Nov 2021 22:58:59 +0000

Photo by The R&A

By Kent Gray
For a fresh reminder of where a strong performance in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship (WAAP) might someday lead, the region’s best players need only rewind to last month’s Dubai Moonlight Classic.

Among the field at the Ladies European Tour event was Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, the winner of the inaugural WAAP in 2018.

Thitikul, who also finished runner-up to Yuka Yasuda in Japan two years ago, has already climbed inside the top 30 of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking within a year of turning professional. She also just clinched the Race to Costa Del Sol, the LET Order of Merit, at the Saudi Ladies International.

Need further evidence? How about Filipino Yuka Saso and Thai Patty Tavatanakit, who were tied second and tied 15th respectively in the inaugural WAAP in Singapore, becoming major winners this year. Tavatanakit won the ANA Inspiration in April and 19-year-old Saso was the US Women’s Open champion in June.

All of which makes the 3rd edition of the WAAP, which returns to the international schedule at Abu Dhabi G.C. this week after it was cancelled last year because of pandemic-related restrictions, a tournament to watch.

Organised by The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), WAAP has become the most important event in the region with the champion earning places in major two championships – the AIG Women’s Open and the Amundi Evian Championship – as well as an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Among those to keep tabs on during the 72-hole strokeplay event on The National layout are the reigning Korean amateur champion Youmin Hwang, who is ranked 6th in the world, and Chinese players Xiaowen Yin and Lei Ye, ranked 9th and 13th respectively. Alia Al Emadi, Hannah Cheryl Alan, Hamad Alsuwaidi and Natalii Gupta are listed to represent the UAE.

Youmin Hwang. Photo by Korean Golf Association

It will be Hwang’s maiden WAAP appearance but she is well aware of the opportunity it presents. The 19-year-old has been in fine form this year, winning two amateur titles in her home country after an impressive T-4 finish while playing against seasoned professionals in the DB Group Korea Women’s Open in June.

“As a player, you always want to compete against the best players in the world. Playing the WAAP in Abu Dhabi will be an exciting challenge for me. I am looking forward to testing my game on a formidable golf course like Abu Dhabi Golf Club and in foreign conditions,” said Hwang.

“The rewards of winning the championship are incredible. To be able to play two major championships and have a possibility of playing a round at Augusta National Golf Club, I know every player will try extra hard to finish on top of the leaderboard.”

Yin has been in outstanding form ever since golf made a comeback in China following the first COVID-19 lockdown last year. Since August 2020, she has played 13 events and won eight of them, including three professional titles on the China LPGA Tour). Her worst finish has been 9th place in a professional tournament on August 20. Last year.

“I was fortunate to be part of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific in 2019 and I did well to finish tied 12th in Japan,” said Yin. “However, I know I am a much better all-round player now and it would be amazing if I can add to my victories in Abu Dhabi.”

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What: 3rd Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship
Where: Abu Dhabi Golf Club
When: Nov. 10-13

The post Why the WAAP at Abu Dhabi G.C. this week is a likely barometer of professional things to come appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Runaway LET leader Atthaya Thitikul is fully focused for The Faldo thanks to a suddenly uncooperative putter

Kent Gray — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 08:01:06 +0000

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By Kent Gray
Atthaya Thitikul was just 14 years, four months and 19 days old when she entered golf lore as the youngest winner of a professional tournament. It seems the now 18-year-old Thai has been hurriedly distancing herself from the competition ever since that magical week at the Ladies European Thailand Championship in July 2017.

Thitikul now counts four LET titles to her name, two of which have come in a thus far phenomenal 2021. The triumphs at the Czech Open in June and the Swiss Open in September plus another 10 top-10s saw her arrive in Dubai with a 1400 point – and seemingly unassailable – lead over Sanna Nuutinen in the LET’s Race to Costa del Sol.

With three individual events – including this week’s Dubai Moonlight Classic – until the end of the season, it seems European No.1 will soon be etched into her impressive résumé. Not that Thitikul, who has skyrocketed from 308 to 28 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, is getting ahead of herself. This is golf after all, a game that only ever promises the unexpected.

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“Everyone knows the situation with the Race to Costa del Sol. I’m not focusing on it because every week is not the same… especially this week [under lights],” Thitikul said. “I’m working on something with my putting which I’m not confident on, but it should be okay if I adjust it. Hopefully it’s good.”

Thitikul has not played since Switzerland but has not sat about during her month away from the LET.

“I was still doing golf. I spent 14 days in a hotel for quarantine when I was back home, but I was still working with my coach – he came in from Bangkok. Then I had a week before I left [for] Dubai and I was busy working with sponsors on photoshoots. It was nice to take some time out of competitions and get some rest ahead of the end of the season.

“It’s nice to have the three events [Dubai, Saudi and the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De Espana] in a row because I already took that time off after Switzerland. It’s nice to be back and here in Dubai – especially with this different event and there is no cut. I hope to keep the momentum going for this first event.

“I haven’t been to Dubai before. This is my first time playing night golf as well. Hopefully it will turn out to be a good week.”

The post Runaway LET leader Atthaya Thitikul is fully focused for The Faldo thanks to a suddenly uncooperative putter appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.