Par for the course

But Kiradech has no regrets about missing out on adolescent pleasures. He’s proud of his success and well aware that he’ll be held up as a role model to other teenagers. The 23-year-old and the youngest golfer ever to earn a maiden win on the European Tour has earned almost Bt100 million to date and since the age of 18, has been caring financially for his family, even managing to pay off their debts.

Kiradech or Arm as he’s known to family and friends, first teed off at the age of eight and turned professional at 19. Raised in a well-off family, Kiradech’s success came ironically at the price of his parent’s business. His mother and father faced bankruptcy lawsuits after investing huge sums in their son’s golfing career and neglecting work in order to accompany him to competitions abroad.

His mother sold her last gold bar, worth almost Bt300,000, to cover his expenses for the Junior World Golf Championships, which he won at just 14.

“My parent’s problems were the turning point in my personal life. Had my parents not gone broke, I would have not become the person I am today. I would have merely been a child from a rich family who only knew how to spend his parent’s cash,” says Kiradech, who became the holder of the European Tour trophy at the Malaysian Open last month.

A major speed freak, his teenage hobbies included racing and jet skiing. But taking part in these sports made him hot-headed and dangerous so he quit and devoted himself to the slower though equally exciting game of golf.

Kiradech reckons golf is one of the most challenging sports and chuckles as he recalls missing the ball on the tee completely when he attempted his first shot.

He won his first titles at the Junior World Golf Championships in 2003 and 2004. In 2007, he came home with the gold medal from the World University Games.

He turned professional in 2008 and started playing on the Asian Tour and the Japan Golf Tour in 2009. His first professional victory came later that year at the Mercedes-Benz Tour’s Singha Pattaya Open. He won his first Asian Tour event at the 2011 SAIL Open in India.

His maiden European Tour title in Malaysia last month marked the turning point in his professional career, the rising star golf says. Kiradech became only the fourth Thai to have won the European Tour event after the double Asian Tour No 1 Thongchai Jaidee, Thaworn Wiratchant and Chapchai Nirat.

The victory guarantees an exemption for Kiradech, allowing him to play in future European Tour events for two years. He will begin his tournament tour in May.

“I will have a chance to play with many famous golfers. I will also have to adjust my game to cope with new golf courses, the weather and time,” says the golfer, who is currently playing on both the Asian Tour and Japan Tours.

Like all golfers, his ultimate goal is to become the first Thai player to show off his swing on the world’s most prestigious PGA Tour.

“I want to fulfil Khun Santi [Bhirombhakdi, the Singha Corporation president]’s dream of seeing a Thai golfer make his presence felt in the PGA or better still becoming PGA champion,” Kiradech says.

To tee off in the PGA, Kiradech, whose current world ranking is 88, needs to be ranked in the world’s top 50. He sees the European Tour win as a short cut to pursuing his dream, explaining that if he wins any titles at European Tour events, his world ranking will improve.

After two years on the European Tour, Kiradech plans to play in the USA, aiming to pit his expertise against that of other golfers in competitions held as part of the Web.com Tour, the top developmental tour for the PGA Tour, to collect points and improve his world ranking. Golfers who are on the top 25 of the money list at the end of the year are given PGA Tour memberships for the next season.

The Thai golfer rising star is grateful to the president of Singha Corporation, who is providing financial support to around 50 amateur and professional golfers. Had it not been for Santi’s support, Kiradech would have disappeared from the golf course after winning his junior titles, because he could not afford for the competitions.

Playing golf requires a huge financial investment. It costs a golfer Bt1 million in golf balls alone every year and more than Bt3 million for plane tickets to compete abroad, says Kiradech, who has benefitted from Singha funding since his amateur days.

“Had Singha not found a project to sponsor Thai golf, I would not be here today. So, I want to call on more private sectors companies to grant financial support to golfers. It will help boost and develop our careers,” he says.

Dubbed Asia’s John Daly due to his physique and style of play, Kiradech has been however battling to overcome tiredness caused by a thyroid problem for the last eight months. The health problem has forced him to reduce the number of his matches by half.

Today, he is playing fewer matches while trying to improve the efficiency of his game. In the last four months, he’s played six tournaments, down from more than a dozen previously. He won three and finished the third, fourth and fifth in the other three matches.

With his prize of US$458,330 (Bt13.26 million) from the Maybank title, Kiradech jumped to the top of the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit with a season haul of $594,230. He has no plans to invest his money as yet, explaining that after paying out some Bt20 million to cover his parents’ debts, he has now built a house for them and is trying to take care of them to the best of his abilities.

The 23-year-old golfer says he’ll continue his career for as long as his health permits. If forced to retire early due to ill health, then he’ll become a coach and set up a foundation to train youngster to become golfers.