Young Thai Turns Professional

If you are planning a golf vacation in February, then you may bump into young Thai sensation 16-year-old Atthaya Thitikul, who has just announced that she is turning professional.

She will be among the top players taking part in the Honda LPGA Thailand at the Siam Country Club’s Old Course in Pattaya on February 20-23, 2020.

It is not often that an event can attract the top fifty players in the world, but Atthaya will be playing alongside the likes of Lexi Thompson, Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson and her idol and fellow Thai Ariya Jutanugarn at the LPGA tournament.

Youngest Player to Win

Although Atthaya is only 16-year-old, she has already won two Ladies European Tour events both at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club also in Pattaya.
When she first won The Thailand European Tour Ladies Championship, she became the youngest ever player to win a professional event at 14 yrs. four months and 17 days.

In 2018 she was crowned champion at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in Singapore and thanks to that victory was a sponsor invite on the same course for the HSBC’s Women’s Champions finishing eighth in that LPGA event.

She was the low Amateur at the ANA Inspiration and the British Open again on the LPGA tour. At one stage she was ranked the number one female amateur in the World, having claimed the mixed team title at the Youth Olympics in Argentina.

Too Young for LPGA Card

Although she is already ranked 228 on the Rolex World rankings, at the moment Atthaya cannot join the LPGA tour as members must at least 18 years old. However, the LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan has been known to make exceptions in the past, when Lydia Ko was allowed to join under 18.

Meanwhile this year Atthaya plans to join the Ladies European Tour, and has set her goal to finish in the top 25 on the LET’s money list.

This youngster has had more experience already travelling the world and even playing at Augusta, than most golfers twice her age.

With sponsors jumping at the chance of getting her signature, she is also already financially secure.

So, expect to see young Thitikul in the winning circle again soon. Definitely a future No 1 female golfer, so watch this space.

Maybe you can see her in action yourself, especially if you are taking your golf vacation in Thailand this February.