Thailand’s Kanyalak Preedasuttijit has won the LET Thailand Championship at her home club, Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club in Pattaya, one shot ahead of amateur Selin Hyun.
Thailand’s Kanyalak Preedasuttijit has won the LET Thailand Championship at her home club, Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club in Pattaya, one shot ahead of amateur Selin Hyun.
With a local golfer holding a four shot lead and a tight pack of players queuing up behind, the final day of the LET Thailand Championship was set up perfectly to provide audiences with an exciting climax. Plenty of players went low at the start of the day on the challenging Pattaya golf course, but no player would know the course better than the leader.
After carding rounds of 70, 68, 66 and 69, 20-year-old Kanyalak Preedasuttijit from Chonburi, Thailand, posted a winning total of 15-under-par, earning 45,000 euros and a place in this year’s two European Majors: the Ricoh Women’s British Open and The Evian Championship.
Preedasuttijit won the tournament by just one stroke ahead of 17-year-old Korean amateur Selin Hyun, who shot a sizzling 65 in the final round, improving on her opening round by 10 strokes.
Fellow Thai player Chonlada Chayanun shot 69 to finish four strokes back in third place, but took home the second prize money worth 27,000 euros due to Hyun’s amateur status. Anne Van Dam from the Netherlands closed with a 71 to end alone in fourth place on 9-under-par, and 16-year old Arpichaya Yubol from Thailand, known as “Piano”, shot a 66 to end in fifth spot at 8-under-par. Yubol's round was supported by her 13-year-old brother as her caddie.
Preedasuttijit, also known as “Bew” simply played the course to perfection and managed to control her emotions superbly in the stifling heat. The difficulty of playing in such difficult climatic conditions is that they can often test the emotions of the players and she personified calmness throughout the event. Commenting after her round, Preedasuttijit said,
"I tried to control my own game and it was very consistent, so I felt confident. I had practised a lot at Phoenix, but I didn’t want to put pressure on myself so I didn’t look at the score."
Since turning professional just 15 months ago, the Thailand Championships mark Preedasuttijit third professional title, following wins on the Thai LPGA and China LPGA last year.
Image credit: Ladies European Tour
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