Atthaya secures women’s British Open slot
PRECOCIOUS Atthaya Thitikul has been handed entry to the British Women’s Open, which will be held at Kingsbarns Golf Links in Scotland from August 3 to 6.
The Thai teen captured headlines and the hearts of golf fans with her historic win in the 300,000-euro Thailand Championship at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club in Chon Buri on Sunday.
Atthaya, at 14 years, four months and 19 days, became the youngest ever player to win a women’s professional tournament, beating Ana Menendez of Mexico by two strokes and eclipsing the previous record of 14 years and eight months held by former world No 1 Lydia Ko when she won the New South Wales Open in 2012.
The teenager is now being touted as the next big thing in Thai golf after recent world No 1 Ariya Jutanugarn.
Yesterday, Atthaya called for more slots for fellow Thai amateurs in big international events. “It’s very rare that amateurs get to play on big tours such as the Ladies European. It’s necessary that we play with world class professional players to learn how to handle various kinds of situations on course,” said the schoolgirl from Ratchaburi.
Atthaya, one of the four amateurs to played at the Phoenix Gold, said her main goal going into the LET Tour event was to acquire experience from the pros; she has no expectation of winning the tournament. She said the Tour organisers would lose little by allotting more berths for amateurs.
“All we need is the experience. In fact, I have learned so many things over the past few days. I also got a chance to play in the LPGA Thailand earlier this year and that experience really benefited me in the LET tournament last week. If other amateurs received the same opportunity, there would be a proliferation of young talent,” said Atthaya, who has been busy with a series of media interviews following her tremendous victory on Sunday.
