Soccer has FIFA, Augusta has Fifa as Thai amateur set for Masters debut

AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 6 : In the same year the FIFA World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, a Thai golfer named after world soccer’s governing body will make his major championship debut at the Masters.

Fifa Laopakdee’s father, a devoted soccer fan, named his son after FIFA when he was born and that name will be on the tee sheet when the year’s first major gets underway this week at Augusta National.

“My dad is a huge soccer fan, and he was choosing between Fifa from FIFA World Cup and Uefa from UEFA Champions League,” Laopakdee said Monday. “So luckily it ends up with at Fifa.”

Laopakdee earned his Masters invitation by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai last October, becoming the first Thai player to claim the title.

He entered the final round six strokes off the lead, birdied the 17th and 18th holes to force a playoff, then birdied all three playoff holes to win — securing spots in this year’s Masters and British Open.

Laopakdee arrived at Augusta National this week as the first amateur representing Thailand to compete in the Masters, and was greeted by a locker in the club’s new Player Services Building wedged between those of five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods and two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau.

“To be walking into the locker room today, and my locker is between Tiger and Bryson. That’s a lot to soak in,” he said. “I definitely took a picture of that.”