When Fifa Laopakdee arrived at Arizona State, he didn’t come with fireworks. He came under the radar.
In fact, Sun Devil Men’s Golf Head Coach Matt Thurmond found him almost accidentally, at an under-16 European championship in the Czech Republic, surrounded by Europe’s best juniors, in which Fifa finished third.
Fifa came in as a very nice recruit, but he was part of a team with unmistakable depth. Five players entered that 2023–24 season together, an unusually large group for the team, and the spotlight fell elsewhere, rather than on a quiet freshman from Thailand.
Fifa went to work and cracked the lineup early as a freshman, but momentum vanished quickly. A finger injury in the fall required surgery and effectively took him out of the rest of the season. With a loaded roster, the team kept moving forward, but for Fifa, it meant watching, waiting and learning patience in a sport that rarely offers shortcuts.
“He had a nice summer after that year, and we expected him to come back and be really good,” Thurmond said. “But it was slow. I was asking, ‘Okay, what’s going on here?’” Then came a rough stretch in Hawaiʻi in the spring, where Fifa struggled against elite competition.
The turning point
Thurmond challenged Fifa harder than he ever had before. Instead of the usual three-round qualifier, Fifa was put through a nine-round grind against a teammate. No shortcuts, no safety net. Just focus and hard work.
The idea wasn’t punishment. It was a belief that the rounds would help him improve and build confidence.
“We wanted him to do something really difficult, so when it’s over, he would feel like he had done something big,” Thurmond said.
It worked. Round by round, Fifa grew steadier, calmer, sharper, and the confidence unlocked something.
In a world where top-10 finishes are celebrated and top-20s are considered excellent, Fifa did one better. He started winning tournaments outright. In his sophomore season, he:
“Well, let me just put it this way,” said Thurmond. “For him to come out and get two big wins was eye-opening for him and a lot of people. He showed that when he has a chance to win, he’s done it, and it’s kind of incredible.”
“When the moment’s big, it’s never too big for him.”
As a sophomore, Fifa Laopakdee tied for first at the 2025 Cabo Collegiate after an impressive 3-under performance, complete with four birdies. He had the lowest scoring average on the par 4s out of the entire…
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