Fifa Laopakdee: 12 Things To Know About The 2026 Masters Amateur

Fifa Laopakdee wins Asia Pacific Amateur — Fifa Laopakdee won the Asia Pacific Amateur

(Image credit: AAC)

Fifa Laopakdee is one of the amateur game’s brightest stars, and that was highlighted in 2025 by a win that earned him exemptions to two of the Majors this year.

Here are 12 things to know about the player who is one of the amateurs in the 2026 Masters field...

Fifa Laopakdee Facts

1. The Thai player’s full name is Pongsapak Laopakdee.

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2. His nickname is 'Fifa' due to his father's love of soccer. "My dad is a huge soccer fan, and he was choosing between Fifa from FIFA World Cup and Uefa from UEFA Champions League. So luckily it ends up with at Fifa," he joked ahead of the 2026 Masters.

3. Laopakdee plays college golf for Arizona State University.

4. He played with former ASU golfers Jon Rahm and Josele Ballester in January 2026 prior to his Masters start. "I'm lucky enough to talk to them and talked back in ASU, like Josele, and I played with Jon Rahm at the start of January," he said. "It's been an honor to have those kinds of guys in town and practice alongside you and give you any answers. They're happy enough to answer all my questions, all my concerns, and give me all the tips and other strategies to use this week."

5. He came from six shots behind to win the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

6. Following a final round 68, Laopakdee earned a playoff with Taisei Nagasaki, which he won on the third hole.

7. The victory was the first by a Thai player at the tournament.

8. The win means he’ll also be one of the amateurs in the field at The Masters and The Open.

9. When he tees it up at The Masters, he will become the first Thai amateur to play at the Major.

The Augusta National clubhouse — Laopakdee's Asia Pacific Amateur win earned him a place at the 2026 Masters

10. It won’t be the first big professional event where he has competed. Laopakdee played in several world ranking events between 2019 and 2025, including the Crown Australian Open at the end of the latter year, where he missed the cut.

11. The victory also earned him an exemption into the 2026 Amateur Championship.

12. He has played for his country at the Eisenhower Trophy and the Junior Presidents Cup.

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Full name	Pongsapak Laopakdee
College	Arizona State University
Highest WAGR	21st
WAGR wins	5

Fifa Laopakdee Amateur Wins

2024 Papago Individual
2025 Thunderbird Collegiate
2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
2025 SEA Games
2026 The Desimone Invitational

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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