My thanks to Mark for his comments on my earlier posting where I talked about the US Women’s Open Golf Championship and commented on the strong showing of Asian lady golfers, particularly the Koreans, the “Seoul Sisters” of golf. Mark asked: “And what about the Thai lady golfers? Maybe a separate post on their progress as this would be very interesting”. So here goes:

Whilst no lady Thai golfer has reached prominence yet on the LPGA Tour, there is a whole crop of very talented Thai youngsters coming through. Perhaps the most promising is 23-year old Onnarin “Moo” Sattayabanphot. (Moo means “little pig” in Thai!). At the age of 12, Onnarin (pronounced o-NARE-n) first picked up a club when she went to the driving range with her father.  She was so intrigued by how such an odd-shaped club could hit a ball so far off a tee, that she quickly became interested in taking the game up. While in high school at La Salle College in Bangkok, Onnarin captured 11 tournaments in four years, was a member of the Thai national team from 1999-2001, won silver medal as an individual and gold medal as a team member in both the 20^th and 21^st Southeast Asia Games, and was named 1999 Golfer of the Year by the Thailand Amateur Ladies Golf Association. Two years ago, Onnarin ventured from her home in Bangkok to the United States for the opportunity to play golf at a top university (Purdue) and get a quality education while doing so. Whilst at Purdue, she recorded 15 top-10 finishes in collegiate competition, including one win, was selected for the Big Ten All-Conference First Team selection (2004-2006), and the 2006 NGCA All-American Second Team selection. Last year, before turning Pro, Onnarin was named the 2006 Big Ten Player of the Year and Purdue Female Athlete of the Year. This year she has played eight events on the Duramed Futures Tour, achieving eight top ten finishes, the best being second, and earning US$16,052 to date, ranked 19^th. Onnarin missed the cut in the US Women’s Open on +10, but perhaps her happiest moment so far as a Pro was when she achieved a rare double-eagle or albatross on the par-five 11th hole of the Louisiana Pelican Classic last April.

Other Thais making their assault on the Futures Tour this season are Nontaya "Net" Srisawang from   Chiang Mai, Huachai from Bangkok, and Tiffany Tavee, actually born in Arizona of Thai parents. 20-year old Nontaya, currently ranked 43^rd with two top-ten finishes, knows how to win having come first in 2004 Teens on the Green World Championship, the 2004 Asia Pacific Junior Master Golf Championship, the 2004 Thailand Ladies Amateur Open, the 2005 Hong Kong Ladies Open, the 2005 Phuket Thailand Ladies Master Championship, the 2006 Orient Masters in WenZhou China and the 2007 LPGA Sectional Qualifying Tournament. I believe Nontaya gave a helping hand to Onnarin by caddying for her at the US Open.

In all there are 17 Thai lady professionals who are potentially capable of winning high-profile tournaments anywhere in the world, including rising players like Pornanong Phatlum, Porani Chutichai, Rungthiwa Pangjan, Tiranan Yoopan, Titiya Plucksataporn, Walailak Satarak and Banchalee Thienthong, as well as seasoned Pro, Rayong’s Russamee Gulyanamitta. 21-year old Porani, from Chiang Rai, has qualified to play in the Step Up Tour in Japan, while Tiranan and Rungthiwa are heading to Japan to play in the Q-School this year. I have deliberately not mentioned yet the popular 17-year old twin sisters, Aree and Naree Wongluekiet, now also living in the United States. Their mother is Thai but they have now opted for Korean citizenship (their father is Korean) and are announced on the first tee as “from Korea”, which seems a shame.

One final footnote that I came across whilst preparing the above and may amuse you. If you think Onnarin Sattayabanphot, or any of the other names in this post, are hard to pronounce, try saying the name of Hawaii’s state fish that is engraved on the wedge carried by Shayna Miyajima of Maui, Hawaii. Believe it or not, ‘Humuhumunukunukuapuaa’ fits on the back of the club. I am told that the fish’s name is pronounced like hum-moo-hum-moo-nooku-nooku-ah-poo-ah-ah. And why does Miyajima have the name of a fish on her golf club? "My club fitter is in San Diego and he’s trying to learn Hawaiian words (!) and I guess he just really liked that one," she said. Feminine logic at its best.

Play fast, swing slow.

As per my previous post, last weekend I watched the Golf Night programme on satellite TV. Having followed the very exciting finish to the European PGA Tour Open de France, I was dissuaded from switching off and going to bed by the sight of some stunning lady golfers gracing the US Women’s Open Golf Championship.

Wow! What a change from the days when lady Pro golfers tended to look like retired hockey players! The event was more like a fashion show and many of the participants would not look out of place on the models’ catwalk.

As you probably saw, the winner was Cristie Kerr – at her 42^nd major attempt! The 29-year-old Kerr shot a final-round, 1-under-par 70 at the Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, Southern Pines, North Carolina, to register a two-stroke victory and finally claim that elusive major prize, just like Phil Mickelson did in the Masters in 2004.

What really caught my eye though was that, out of the top twenty five finishers, no fewer than sixteen are Asian, or of Asian extraction. Twenty four Koreans made the cut, only one less than the number of Americans.

Typical is runner-up, 18-year old Angela Park, a veritable United Nations wrapped into one small package, born in Brazil to South Korean parents before moving with her father to California at the age of eight. And at only 5ft 5 inches (about 1.62 metres) and looking like she weighs about 8 stone (112 lbs or 51 kilos), Park can really play golf. Look at her stats: Average Drive 245.3 yards, Fairways Hit 82%, Greens in Regulation 72%, Putts Per Hole 1.68.

Actually Cristie Kerr is listed as being the same height as Park although she looks much bigger (on my tv at any rate) having a more ‘American’ build. I read afterwards that she had shed three and a half stones (about 49 lbs or 22 kilos) over the past few years. Just as well because after sinking the winning putt, she leapt into her husband’s arms. Some years ago she would have flattened him.

NOT included in the sixteen Asians referred to above, is Michelle Wie. She followed up her shameful and controversial withdrawal from the Ginn Tribute (when she was in danger of shooting an 88 which, under an odd LPGA rule, would have meant that she would not be allowed to play in tournaments for the rest of the year) by also walking off the 10th hole of the second round of the Open after aggravating her wrist injury. Wie seems to have lost her way. She has yet to win anything of significance on the LPGA Tour and her attempts to compete with the men have been an unmitigated disaster. Compare her to Morgan Pressel (pictured above). Apart from returning to golf too soon from her injury, Wie seems to be distracted by all of her off-course commitments. I do hope that Alexis Thompson does not go the same way. At the age of twelve (yes, that’s twelve, just 148 months into her existence), Alexis became the youngest ever participant in the US Women’s Open. Someone that young, however good she may be, playing in Pro golf tournaments just does not seem right to me. She failed to make the cut on +16.

It appears that the strong Asian influence now on the LPGA Tour is not reflected in the men’s game. My guess is that, apart from V J Singh, the Asian men have not yet developed the power needed to succeed on the PGA Tour. Compare Angela Park’s average drive of 245 yards with the fact that the average drive of the longest driver on the US Tour is now touching 320 yards. As for me, on a good day, with a downhill running fairway and a typhoon-strength gale behind, I am right up there with Angela Park! I would be interested on your views about the Asian take-away of the LPGA Tour.

Play fast, swing slow.