Natthakritta Vongtaveelap Explained

Natthakritta Vongtaveelap
Nickname:Sim
Birth Date:8 November 2002
Birth Place:Bangkok, Thailand
Height:6 ft 0 in
Yearpro:2022
Tour:LPGA Tour
Thai LPGA Tour
Prowins:5
Anainspiration:CUT: 2023
Lpga:CUT: 2023
Wusopen:DQ: 2023
Wbritopen:DNP
Evian:DNP

Natthakritta Vongtaveelap (Thai: ณัฐกฤตา วงศ์ทวีลาภ; born 8 November 2002) is a Thai professional golfer playing on the LPGA Tour.

Early life and amateur career

Born in 2002, Vongtaveelap began playing golf at a very young age. As an amateur, she had a very successful career and got the titles at several events, including the 2021 and 2022 Singha Thailand Amateur Open, 2021 Singha Thailand Amateur Match Play Championship, and 2022 Singha Thailand Amateur Match Play Championship. She also ended up as a runner-up twice in the 2021 and 2022 Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship.

In May 2022, she represented Thailand at the 2021 Southeast Asian Games and won two gold medals.[1]

Professional career

Vongtaveelap turned professional in November 2022. In December 2022, she finished tied for 28th at the LPGA Q-Series to earn her LPGA Tour membership for the 2023 season.[2] [3]

2023

Vongtaveelap won her first event as a pro on the Thai LPGA Tour at the BGC Championship in February 2023. Two weeks later, she triumphed for her second consecutive Thai LPGA title at the NSDF Ladies Classic.[4]

In late February, she made her LPGA debut at the Honda LPGA Thailand after winning the qualifying tournament in January and got the sponsor invitation.[5] she took a four-shot lead at 20-under-par after 54 holes and attempted to be the first LPGA member to win on her first LPGA start but lost to Lilia Vu by one stroke in the final round.[6] [7] This runner-up finish made her moved into the top 100 on the Women's World Golf Rankings for the first time with a rank of 91.[8]

In July, Vongtaveelap was disqualified from the first round of the U.S. Women's Open after her caddie, Jinsup Kim, used a distance-measuring device on multiple holes.[9]

Amateur wins

Source:[10]

Professional wins (5)

Thai LPGA Tour wins (5)

Vongtaveelap won the event as an amateur.

Results in LPGA majors

Tournament 2023
Chevron ChampionshipCUT
Women's PGA ChampionshipCUT
U.S. Women's OpenDQ
The Evian Championship
Women's British Open
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year World
ranking
Source
2022 756 [11]
2023 134 [12]

Team appearances

Notes and References

  1. News: กอล์ฟไทยเก็บเพิ่มอีก 1 ทอง 1 เงิน ประเภททีมซีเกมส์ที่เวียดนาม . 26 February 2023 . MGR Online . 18 May 2022 . th.
  2. Web site: Natthakritta Vongtaveelap Bio . LPGA . 26 February 2023.
  3. News: Five Thais earn LPGA Tour places through Q-Series . 26 February 2023 . Bangkok Post . 13 December 2022.
  4. News: Kukreti . Shobhit . Who is Natthakritta Vongtaveelap? Thai rookie shocks opposition on LPGA debut . 26 February 2023 . Sportskeeda . 25 February 2023 .
  5. News: Natthakritta gets LPGA berth . 26 February 2023 . Bangkok Post . 11 January 2023.
  6. Herzig . Gabrielle . A 20-Year-Old Rookie Could Make History at Honda LPGA Thailand . 26 February 2023 . . 25 February 2023.
  7. News: LPGA Thailand: Lilia Vu reels in local rookie Natthakritta Vongtaveelap with epic final round to win title . 26 February 2023 . Sky Sports . 26 February 2023.
  8. Web site: Women's World Golf Rankings . 13 April 2023 . 27 February 2023.
  9. Nichols . Beth Ann . LPGA rookie disqualified from 2023 U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach . Golfweek . 6 July 2023 . 6 July 2023.
  10. Web site: Natthakritta Vongtaveelap . 26 February 2023 . World Amateur Golf Ranking.
  11. Web site: Women's World Golf Rankings . 26 December 2022.
  12. Web site: Women's World Golf Rankings . 25 December 2023.