When Arizona State head coach Matt Thurmond’s search for his next great player took him through remote Pardubice, Czech Republic, six summers ago, he had no idea how prescient the final leaderboard of that 2019 European Young Masters would be.
The top three finishers – winner Michael Mjaaseth of Norway, Spain’s Josele Ballester and a lanky Thai teen by the name of Pongsapak Laopakdee, the latter of whom Thurmond was surprised was even in the Euro-dominant field – would all eventually end up Sun Devils. Ballester, of course, won the U.S. Amateur before turning pro earlier this year and joining LIV Golf, while Mjaaseth, now a senior, has been a consistent presence in Thurmond’s lineup.
Laopakdee, who goes by Fifa because of his dad’s affinity for soccer, has come into his own, too. Before capturing the Asia-Pacific Amateur on Sunday, he won four times in his first three years of college golf, including Arizona State’s own Thunderbird Collegiate last spring and a T-1 at the Cabo Collegiate a few weeks before that. Laopakdee, in fact, is the only player on the Sun Devils’ roster to have won a college event.
When he arrived in Tempe as a freshman, Laopakdee struggled mainly with the putter, couldn’t dial back his swing, and physically, he needed to get stronger as well. Though he was disqualified from the first round of the Ben Hogan Collegiate earlier this fall after signing an incorrect scorecard, Laopakdee’s maturity allowed him to bounce back quickly, as he notched a top-20 finish at the World Amateur Team Championship in Singapore before pulling off his incredible comeback in Dubai.
“He’s been a little inconsistent, still has the bad tournament from time to time, but he’s gotten so good,” Thurmond said. “When you watch him play, it’s like, oh, wow – hits the driver straight and far, smart with his course management; he’s really good, especially when it’s not overly complicated, when it’s green light and full speed ahead; he’s hard to beat.”
And now, after qualifying for the Masters and Open Championship next year, Thurmond says: “I think he’ll be locked in more than ever.”