A bright future beckons for Pimkwan Chookaew
Another great home success as Palmy rewarded for self-control
Hua Hin - Thirteen-year-old Pimkwan Chookaew shot the lowest score of the 2017 Singha Thailand Junior World Championships, a closing two-under-par 70, to capture the class A-B overall title at a windswept Royal Golf Course in Hua Hin on Sunday.
Strong winds and drizzles were unable to deter the Pathum Thani girl, who shot five birdies against three bogeys to seal a four-round total of four under-par 284 sign off and become the only player in the tournament to beat par.
“To be honest I was surprised to finish with this score as the course sets up a bit tough and the winds are strong this week,” said Pimkwan – nicknamed Palmy -– who beat 39 players including A class opponents and boys for the overall title.
“Under these conditions, I tried to control the ball well and not hit it too far.”
She is also the second Thai girl to win the overall title after 10-year-old Cholcheva Wongras’s victory in the B and C classes on Saturday.
“I’m so happy to win this title, which is my second of the year. This win will boost me up when I’m paying my next event in Hong Kong,” added the eighth-grade Beaconhouse Yamsaard School student, who won the World Stars Junior Golf tournament in Las Vegas earlier this year.
The teenager’s goal is to play professional golf on the LPGA tour and follows the footsteps of former world No 1 Ariya Jutanugarn, who is the first Thai to win on the LPGA Tour and winner of a major tournament, the British Open last year.
David Boriboonsub of Thailand had a 14 over-par-302 to dominate the boys class B, while Luis Miguel Castro of the Philippines won the boys A Class with a seven-over 295.
In girls Class A, Phisitkwan Pooratanaopa carded a final 71 for a total two over-par-290. Phisitkwan also helped Thailand to win the team event as she and Chanikarn Yongyuan shot a total 11over-par 587, followed by Japan, represented by Hiraki Arina and Rin Nakajima, with 618.
The Philippines won the boy’s team as Aidric Jose Chan and Carl Jano Corpus carded a 32 over-par 608. Thailand’s Denwit and Supakit Seelanagae were runners-up on 643.
