Fifa Laopakdee is likely one of the beginner recreation’s brightest stars, and that was highlighted in 2025 by a win that earned him exemptions to 2 of the Majors this 12 months.
Here are 12 issues to know concerning the participant who is likely one of the amateurs in the 2026 Masters field…
Fifa Laopakdee Facts
1. The Thai participant’s full identify is Pongsapak Laopakdee.
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2. His nickname is ‘Fifa’ attributable to his father’s love of soccer. “My dad is a huge soccer fan, and he was choosing between Fifa from FIFA World Cup and Uefa from UEFA Champions League. So luckily it ends up with at Fifa,” he joked forward of the 2026 Masters.
3. Laopakdee performs faculty golf for Arizona State University.
4. He performed with former ASU golfers Jon Rahm and Josele Ballester in January 2026 previous to his Masters begin. “I’m lucky enough to talk to them and talked back in ASU, like Josele, and I played with Jon Rahm at the start of January,” he stated. “It’s been an honor to have those kinds of guys in town and practice alongside you and give you any answers. They’re happy enough to answer all my questions, all my concerns, and give me all the tips and other strategies to use this week.”
5. He got here from six photographs behind to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.
6. Following a closing spherical 68, Laopakdee earned a playoff with Taisei Nagasaki, which he gained on the third gap.
7. The victory was the primary by a Thai participant on the match.
8. The win means he’ll even be one of many amateurs within the subject at The Masters and The Open.
9. When he tees it up at The Masters, he’ll change into the primary Thai beginner to play on the Major.
Laopakdee’s Asia Pacific Amateur win earned him a spot on the 2026 Masters
(Image credit score: Getty Images)
10. It gained’t be the primary massive skilled occasion the place he has competed. Laopakdee performed in a number of world rating occasions between 2019 and 2025, together with the Crown Australian Open on the finish of the latter 12 months, the place he missed the reduce.
11. The victory additionally earned him an exemption into the 2026 Amateur Championship.
12. He has performed for his nation on the Eisenhower Trophy and the Junior Presidents Cup.
Full identify | Pongsapak Laopakdee |
College | Arizona State University |
Highest WAGR | twenty first |
WAGR wins | 5 |
Fifa Laopakdee Amateur Wins
- 2024 Papago Individual
- 2025 Thunderbird Collegiate
- 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
- 2025 SEA Games
- 2026 The Desimone Invitational
