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Spotlight on Chinarat Phadungsil

Nominated for the inaugural UBS Special Achievement Award alongside some of the biggest names in Asian golf, teenager Chinarat Phadungsil is again walking amongst giants.

To be tagged a teenage prodigy is an unenviable burden. Make good on your promise and you simply deliver what was expected. Fail to live up to those expectations and you do just that … fail.

For Chinarat, though, the response to such a challenge was to simply do it all again. Known by the nickname of Neung, which means ‘one’ in the Thai language, and born on November 1st, a date that boasts three more ones, he was seemingly always destined for the top.

Victory at the Golf Junior World Championship (15-17 years) in San Diego last July impressed, but it was a play-off victory at the Double A International Open just four months later that saw him make a real splash. Thanks to a final-round 67, the teenager forced his way into extra time against Shiv Kapur. The resultant victory made him the youngest winner in Asian Tour history at barely 17 years and just the third amateur to win on Tour.

Promptly turning professional, life on Tour proved tough. As the missed cuts started to mount, the doomsayers second-guessed his decision to join the pay for play ranks. His response? A second Asian Tour victory before his 18th birthday, taking the Crowne Plaza Open in August in another play-off over more experienced rivals and ensuring he moved on from mere potential to arrival as an elite player.

Chinarat probably starts behind sentimental favourite Boonchu Ruangkit and Jeev Milkha Singh in the running for the first UBS Special Achievement Award. However, with a bucketload of ability and the drive for success, this prodigy has his sights on many more honours to come.


CHINARAT PHADUNGSIL
Country: Thailand
Date of Birth: 1 November, 1988
Residence: Chantaburi, Thailand
Turned Pro: 2005

ASIAN TOUR VICTORIES: 2005 Double A International Open (as an amateur), 2006 Crowne Plaza Open.

December 7, 2006