Laopakdee’s Dubai Win Bought Two Missed Major Cuts

Pongsapak Fifa Laopakdee birdied his last five holes at Emirates Golf Club to win the 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in a playoff. The 20-year-old from Thailand posted 66-69-70-68 for 15 under 273, then beat Japan’s 16-year-old Taisei Nagasaki on the third playoff hole.

The prize was an invitation to the 2026 Masters Tournament and a place in the 154th Open. He used both starts. He missed the cut at each.

Laopakdee Birdied His Last Five Holes

Nagasaki took a five-shot lead into Sunday after a 54-hole total of 17 under, a championship scoring mark on the Majlis Course, a Karl Litten layout of 7,289 yards, par 72, opened in 1988 as the first grass course in the Middle East. Laopakdee began the day six shots back. After a slow front nine he made five birdies in his last six holes of regulation, including the 17th and 18th, and shot 5 under 32 on the back nine for a closing 68.

Nagasaki missed a five-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th that would have ended it in regulation and signed for 74. Both men sat on 273. They went back to the 18th, then the 17th, then the 18th again. Laopakdee birdied all three. His last blow was a 6-iron that cleared the water by inches and clung to the slope beyond the yellow line. An up-and-down finished it.

I think all the Thai fans have been waiting such a long time for a Thai amateur or Thai pro to go compete at the Masters and The Open. This victory, I feel like it’s probably gained so many Thai fans.

Fifa Laopakdee, 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, to The R&A

He looked into a camera and said, “Coach, I did it,” a line aimed at Arizona State coach Matt Thurmond. He also said he did not even know he had shot 5 under on the back nine until he finished 18. The R&A recorded him as the first Thai champion in the event, which began in 2010 and was staged in Dubai for the second time after Keita Nakajima’s 2021 win at Dubai Creek.

Japan’s Rintaro Nakano shot 275 and finished third for a second straight year. Australia’s Harry Takis was fourth at 276. Billy Dowling of Australia and Khanh Hung Le of Vietnam shared fifth at 277. The official board carries the full 72-hole scores from Dubai.

What Those Masters and Open Tickets Bought

Laopakdee, born 2 March 2005, was 21 when he reached Augusta National in April 2026 as the first amateur from Thailand in the field. He opened with 80 and followed with 75. The total was 155, 11 over on a par-72 course, and he went home on Friday.

The Open was a harder walk. He had not played proper links golf in a decade, and he carried a back injury into Royal Birkdale. He shot 75-80, 155 again, this time 15 over on a par-70 course, and missed another cut. The Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation said he still drew admirers for the way he carried himself through the week.

THE TWO MAJOR STARTS

Both weeks paid him nothing, which is the amateur bargain. The same 154th Open at Royal Birkdale was won by Ryan Fox at 10 under 270. The tickets did what they were built to do. They put a Thai amateur on the first tee at Augusta and on the Lancashire coast. They did not buy a weekend.

The Host Nation’s Best Week on the Board

Dubai did not send a player to either major from this field. It did log the strongest UAE week the championship has seen. Ahmad Skaik, 28, closed his amateur career with rounds of 68, 72, 70 and 71 for 281, seven under, and solo 13th. No UAE player had ever finished that high.

He had called the week a home-soil test and a last amateur start. On Saturday, sitting 12th, he said the level was high and that making the cut gave him confidence after missed cuts in earlier appearances. He was playing his sixth championship. In 2021 at Dubai Creek he had become only the second Emirati to survive the cut, after Ahmed Al Musharrekh.

Sam Mullane, on debut, opened with 67 and sat in a tie for fourth on Thursday. His brother Jay carried the bag. “There’s no reason why one of us can’t win it, especially around here, we know the course so well,” Mullane said. He added that the group was trying to prove it could play, not merely survive. He posted 67-76-71-76 for 290, two over, and tied for 31st. Rayan Ahmed shot 72-75-72-68 for 287, one under, and tied for 24th, closing with the low UAE round on Sunday.

UAE PLAYERS WHO MADE THE WEEKEND

• Ahmad Skaik: 68-72-70-71=281, -7, 13th, best UAE finish in championship history.
• Rayan Ahmed: 72-75-72-68=287, -1, tied 24th, a second championship start after a cut in Japan in 2024.
• Sam Mullane: 67-76-71-76=290, +2, tied 31st, championship debut after an opening 67.

It was the first time more than one UAE player had reached the weekend in the same edition. Only three Emiratis had made the cut in the event’s previous 15 years. Three did it in four days on the Majlis. “It just shows how we’re growing,” Skaik said. “Three players in total before, and now three in one year.”

The Emirates Golf Federation had five Emiratis named for home soil in September, led by Skaik. The championship board also listed Mohammad Skaik, who hit the opening tee shot and missed the cut at 73-80, Jonathan Selvaraj at 74-81, and Rashed Al Emadi at 84-82. General Abdullah Al Hashmi, vice chairman of the federation, had called a home group at Emirates Golf Club a chance to test the country’s best against the rest of Asia-Pacific.

Seven From the Region Lasted Past Friday

The 36-hole cut fell at six over 150, and 62 players played the weekend. Beside the three Emiratis, four other Middle East golfers got through: Geoffrey Laklak of Lebanon, Saleh Alkaabi and Ali Al Shahrani of Qatar, and Salem Alabdallat of Jordan. Laklak, 17, became the first Lebanese player to make the cut in the championship, then finished tied for 27th at 289, one over, after 73-71-70-75.

MIDDLE EAST PLAYERS ON THE WEEKEND

Alkaabi was the only other man from the region inside six over for 72 holes. Alabdallat reached the weekend at one under through 36 holes, then faded with 75-82. Several neighbours never saw Saturday.

AMONG THOSE WHO MISSED THE CUT

• Mohammad Skaik, UAE: 73-80, nine over.
• Jonathan Selvaraj, UAE: 74-81, 11 over.
• Mousa Shana’ah, Jordan: 79-83, 18 over.
• Azzan Al Rumhy, Oman: 85-78, 19 over.
• Ali Alsakha, Saudi Arabia: 84-79, 19 over.
• Rashed Al Emadi, UAE: 84-82, 22 over.

Hashem Shana’ah of Jordan, Ahmed Al Wahaibi of Oman, Khalid AlSaud of Saudi Arabia, Zaidoon Zakaria of Iraq, Ebrahim Nouri of Iran, and the Bahrain pair Khalifa Almaraisi and Mohamed Alnoaimi also came in over the line. The region filled a large share of a 120-player field drawn from 41 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation member bodies. The board in fourth place and above stayed with Thailand, Japan, Australia and Vietnam.

Ryan Fox Shows What the Pathway Can Still Do

The championship was created in 2009 by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, The R&A, and the Masters Tournament. China had five titles before Dubai, Australia four, Japan four, and Korea two. Thailand had none. Alumni of the event had won 33 PGA Tour titles and more than 140 tournaments across the main tours, a list that includes Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of this championship and the 2021 Masters champion, plus Cameron Smith, the 2022 Open champion, Takumi Kanaya, Keita Nakajima, Min Woo Lee, and Si Woo Kim.

FROM DUBAI TO THE MAJORS

1. October 23, 2025: Opening round at the Majlis. Laopakdee, Dowling, and Le share the lead at 66. Mullane shoots 67. Skaik shoots 68.
2. October 24, 2025: The cut falls at 150. Sixty-two players go through, including three from the UAE for the first time in one year.
3. October 25, 2025: Nagasaki shoots 65 and posts a 54-hole record of 17 under, with a five-shot lead on Nakano and a six-shot lead on Laopakdee.
4. October 26, 2025: Laopakdee wins on the third extra hole and takes the 2026 Masters and Open places.
5. April 9-12, 2026: He misses the Masters cut after 80-75.
6. July 16-19, 2026: He misses The Open cut after 75-80. Fox, an Asia-Pacific Amateur alumnus, wins the Claret Jug at 270.

The APGC noted that Fox became the third championship alumnus to win a major, after Matsuyama at the Masters and Smith at The Open. Lucas Herbert, another former starter, had already won the Dubai Desert Classic on this same Majlis course in 2020. The pathway is not a rumour. It is also not a promise that the man who leaves with the tickets will make Saturday at Augusta or Birkdale.

Dubai itself was sold that week as a view of the Masters. Augusta National’s own account posted the skyline and pointed followers at the live scoring, and the small conversation under that post treated the desert as a qualifier with a pretty backdrop. That is the honest product. The exam starts later, on different grass, in a different wind, against a different field.

The Trophy Goes to Te Arai Links

Laopakdee remains an amateur at Arizona State. Past champions keep a five-year place in this championship if they stay amateur, and he is entered to defend from October 29 to November 1, 2026, at Te Arai Links in Tomarata, New Zealand. Another win would put him back in the Masters and The Open in 2027.

Nagasaki, who had the 54-hole record and the Sunday lead, left with a runner-up exemption into Open qualifying rather than a locker at Augusta. Nakano’s third place was likely his last start as an amateur. Skaik turned toward professional golf with a 13th on his home course and with two teammates on the weekend beside him.

The Thai winner got the two tees he asked for, shot 155 in both majors, and still holds the trophy he has to defend if he wants those tees again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won the 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship?

Pongsapak Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand, a junior at Arizona State and a four-time starter in the championship, won at Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course on October 26, 2025. He had tied for a large group at 280 in the 2022 staging at Amata Spring in Thailand, then broke through on his fourth try by beating Taisei Nagasaki in a three-hole playoff at 15 under 273.

What exemptions does the Asia-Pacific Amateur champion receive?

The winner receives an invitation to the next Masters Tournament and an exemption into the following Open Championship. The runner-up receives a place in The Open Qualifying Series, and the top three finishers receive exemptions into The Amateur Championship, which in this cycle was the 131st Amateur Championship.

Did Fifa Laopakdee make the cut at the 2026 Masters?

No. In his first major start he shot 80 in round one and 75 in round two at Augusta National, finishing at 11 over 155, and missed the 36-hole cut. He was the first amateur representing Thailand to play in the Masters.

How did UAE golfers finish at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur?

Ahmad Skaik finished 13th at seven under 281, Rayan Ahmed tied for 24th at one under 287, and Sam Mullane tied for 31st at two over 290. Mohammad Skaik, Jonathan Selvaraj, and Rashed Al Emadi missed the cut, which fell at six over after 36 holes.

When did the Asia-Pacific Amateur first come to Dubai?

The championship’s first Middle East staging was November 3-6, 2021, at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, where Keita Nakajima of Japan beat Taichi Kho of Hong Kong in a playoff at 270. The 2025 return was the first time the event used the Majlis Course, annual home of the Dubai Desert Classic, whose course record is Ernie Els’s 61.