By: Max Bechtoldt
Thailand is set to send out two young superstars for the 2024 Olympic games, and they are in strong form. The country’s Olympic record has surprisingly left a lot to be desired over the last couple of playings. In 2016, Ariya Jutanugarn was actually the first-round leader before a knee injury halted her tournament. Nobody else from Thailand has even gotten into contention. With the duo they have this year though, expect that to change. Both players were on the Thailand team that won the 2024 International Crown, and have the game to dominate this field. Below, meet the duo that will be representing one of the great golf countries at the Olympics, Thailand:
PATTY TAVATANAKIT
Patty T will be making her second appearance at the Olympics in 2024 after a T23 in Tokyo. Tavatanakit has certainly had an inconsistent career, but is back on a distinct upswing, and playing to her talent level over the course of this season. After winning a major and the Rookie of the Year in her first season on Tour in 2021, Tavatanakit had years of struggles. In 2022 she had nine missed cuts and only two top 10s, finishing No. 60 on the money list. She had a slightly better season in 2023, with five missed cuts, a top-three finish and ending up 57 on the money list. Her game has without a doubt swung up though here in 2024. Patty got a win on the LET against an LPGA-level field, and the next week won her second-career LPGA Tour event in her home country. This season, Patty has just two missed cuts, four top-10 finishes and a third place result last week at the Evian Championship.
ATTHAYA THITIKUL
There are very few players better in the world when healthy than Atthaya Thitikul. Even when she is below 100%, Thitikul can still crash the leaderboard at any time. That has been proven here in 2024, where a hand injury kept her out of the opening portion of the season. Thitikul has stormed back into the superstar-level play we expect from her though. The 2023 LPGA Tour scoring average champion has five top-10 finishes in just nine starts on tour. That includes her third-career victory which she won alongside Ruoning Yin at the Dow Championship. The 21-year-old former world No. 1 and 2022 Rookie of the Year just rarely plays bad, with an unfathomable 34 top-10 finishes in 56 career LPGA Tour starts. Thitikul has finished third and first in scoring average in her two LPGA Tour seasons, and currently sits at sixth this year. This is a player to keep a heavy eye on in Paris.
