Preview: Teen phenom TK tackles British Amateur Championship
TK Chantananuwat (The R&A)
Somebody tell TK to take it easy on the world's best golfers.
That sounds like something we might have asked of Tiger Woods in the 90's when he followed three-straight U.S. Junior titles with three-straight U.S. Amateurs before turning pro and setting scoring records at all four majors.
But "TK" -- full name Ratchanon Chantananuwat -- is rising through the ranks like one of Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets, and he just turned 15.
The Thai golfer won the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup on the Asian Tour as an amateur in April, becoming the youngest golfer to win on a tour recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking (at the age of 15 years and 37 days on April 10.)
He played (as an amateur receiving NIL fees) for the HY Flyers GC team in the inaugural LIV golf event in London, alongside South African Justin Harding, Phil Mickelson, and Chase Koepka. And while his individual performance finishing 42nd out of 48 players doesn't exactly say "world beater" keep in mind how difficult and long the Centurion Golf Club was playing. He's just 15!
At No. 9, Chantananuwat is the second highest WAGR-ranked player in the "Amateur Championship" -- as its officially named -- behind No. 3 Ludvig Aberg. We will be following him closely as the championship stroke play rounds get underway at Royal Lytham and St. Anne's in England. Anything is possible for TK -- but first he needs to make match play.
Here's what two publications had to say about TK, including a quote from the teen phenom himself.
The R&A Bio
The Thai teenager has come far in two years, from outside the WAGR top 2,000 to seventh by April this year, collecting a professional win en route. Chantananuwat featured in the WAGR news of 16 December 2020 as the highest mover with a jump of 973 rankings to 2,289th after winning the Faldo Series Thailand Championship – Hua Hin. By December last year he was 167th with a 15th place finish in the Asian Tour’s Blue Canyon Phuket Championship. He went 14 places better this April by winning the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup on the Asian circuit to become the youngest male winner of a professional tournament at just 15 years and 37 days. That two-shot win took him to seventh on the WAGR table and he remains in the top ten.
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National Club Golfer
He is resisting the lures of the professional game to tick off his “bucket list” of big amateur events, and that starts next week at the Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
“Another main reason I am not turning pro is because I want to play the major amateur events – Amateur Championship, US Amateur and Asia Pacific – it’s like a bucket list of things I want to tick off,” said the Thai teenager, who shot to fame when a final-round 65 secured a two-shot win the Trust Golf Mixed Asian Cup in April.
ABOUT THE British Amateur
This championship, along with the US Amateur Golf
Championship, is considered the most important in
amateur golf.
The first stage of the Championship involves 288
players each of whom plays two rounds of 18 holes,
one to be played on each of the two courses. The 64
lowest scores over the 36 holes and ties for 64th
place will compete in the match play stage of the
Championship. Each match will consist of one round
of 18 holes except the Final which will be over 36
holes.
View Complete Tournament Information