AUGUSTA, Georgia - Thai golfer Fifa Laopakdee makes his major championship debut at the Masters this week, becoming the first amateur from Thailand to compete at Augusta National.
Laopakdee earned his invitation by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai last October. His father, a devoted soccer fan, named him after FIFA - world soccer's governing body.
"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. "So luckily it ends up with Fifa."
He enters the tournament as the first Thai representative, with his locker positioned between five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods and major winner Bryson DeChambeau in the club's new facility.
"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.