By Joy Chakravarty
Winless and without results that lived up to his expectations from March onward, the year was becoming extremely frustrating for Fifa Laopakdee. So much so, he vividly remembers going back to his room after the third round of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on October 2 and desperately wanting to cry.
The tears just wouldn’t come out.
His body and mind might have been protesting. Probably, it was telling him that he was too good a player to start doubting himself.
Exactly a month after that Nagoya afternoon, Fifa showed just why he won his first Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in such stunning fashion in Dubai last year. He successfully defended his title at Te Arai Links, thus grabbing a place next to the Championship’s poster boy Hideki Matsuyama as the only two repeat winners in 17 years of competition.
And the tears did come out this time. Laopakdee broke down talking to Amanda Balionis in his champion interview before lifting the trophy.
For any elite amateur, playing in the Masters and The Open in a single year would be an amazing achievement. But the Arizona State University senior wasn’t happy with his missed cuts in both the majors, and his run of disappointing results for a protracted period.
The self-expectations were heightened. After his AAC win, Fifa triumphed at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, followed by the Desimone Invitational on the United States college golf circuit.
In Laopakdee’s own words, “the demons have been slayed”. After doing it in his inimitable way, which included breaking into a Gangnam-style celebration with his caddie, Santiago, after a crucial par on the 15th hole on Sunday, the 21-year-old even sang Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’ at the press conference.
The song is appropriate, especially if he was singing it for the Championship. The AAC has proven to be Laopakdee’s ultimate fire and desire.
Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand speaks to members of the media during the champions press-conference in the media centre after winning the 2026 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
2026 AAC
And while 2025 was the breakthrough, this was a much more mature version.
The Thai star has put it all down to reading books, something he hated doing before the Asian Games and a habit he picked up at the insistence of his Arizona State University coach, Matt Thurmond.
In the last month, he has finished Bob Rotella’s ‘Golf is Not A Game for Perfect’ and is now into Timothy Gallway’s ‘Inner Game of Golf’. Not only does he read, he also makes copious notes in a journal. Terms like Self 1 and Self 2 (Gallway) and Rotella’s ‘Flow State of Mind’ have become a part of his lexicon.
“I’m a lot more mature mentally. Reading books helped me a lot,” Laopakdee confessed. “I just learned from the mistakes I made the whole year.
“I didn’t play good golf the whole year and it’s been a big learning curve year for me. I told myself this year, just try and learn as much as possible from what I did wrong. Being able to face those mistakes helped me this week.”
There was a bit of golf psychology even with the final round as he vaulted past New Zealand’s Zack Swanwick with a dramatic four-shot swing on the 11th hole.
“It was a huge momentum shift, that’s for sure,” recalled Fifa.
“My hand was shaking right after the putt on 11th, since I knew that I was the new leader. I just keep telling myself: ‘I’m still going to play like I’m behind, and I’m still going to think in my head that Zack’s still leading’. I still wanted to be aggressive, but also play smart. I think I played it perfectly coming down the stretch.”
As Laopakdee prepares for his second visit to Augusta National in April next year, and the first to the Home of Golf at St Andrews, he is confident of putting on a much better show this time.
“I don’t think I have to do that much differently,” he said when asked about the two major invites. “This year, I was not that confident out there compared to my roommates. But next year, I will definitely be a lot calmer and more collected, and I'll keep my composure much better.
“I’m really looking forward to both Augusta and St Andrews. I will have a great time, and I know if I keep doing what I’m doing, I will have a great chance of playing good golf at both of them.”
