Thai ace boosts Philippine Amateur Open cast

MANILA, Philippines — Atthaya Thitikul, the youngest player to win a pro tournament, takes crack at the country’s premier golf championship as she joins the title hunt in the Philippine Amateur Open Golf Championship unfolding tomorrow at Riviera’s Langer course in Silang, Cavite.

Thitikul, who bested a tough pro field in the Ladies European Thailand Championship in 2017 at 14, looms as the player to beat in the ladies division of the 72-hole championship owing to her talent and skills that also netted her the inaugural Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific crown in Singapore last year.

She’s also itching to get back at some of the local players, including Bianca Pagdanganan, who beat her for a podium finish in the Asian Games in Jakarta last August. Yuka Saso bagged the individual gold while Pagdanganan took the bronze, leaving the fancied Thitikul out of the medal picture.

But the ace from Ratchaburi, Thailand is out to prove her worth one more time, making the battle for the crown doubly interesting with compatriot Kultida Pramphun and a host of top players from Japan, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia also in the fold.

Kim Heeji, for one, is eyeing to complete an unfinished business in the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and held as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour after placing second to compatriot Hwang Min-jeong last year. Other players tipped to contend for the crown are Linette Chua, Inez Ng and Linna Loh from Singapore.

Fierce competition is also seen in the men’s side of the event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines with Aidric Chan bannering the hosts’ bid along with Carl Corpus, Weiwei Gao, Josh Jorge, Peter Po and Ryan Monsalve.Kristoffer Arevalo, Miguel Ilas and Jed Dy.