Is Thailand the new S. Korea?

[OBbogey5]

I’m gonna do a deep dive into the numbers, but are we, this very weekend at the Honda Thailand, are we seeing the next generation of great LPGA players’ homeland?? 
 

I’m going in blind with this conversation, but the S. Korean wave took place oh 15 or so years after Se-ri’s 1998 US Open win. 
 

Ariya, with her sister in tow, sparked the match..? (God knows I root for Pornapong ever time she’s competing... .) Patty T. to dominate for a decade. This could be it come 2030. 
 

What are your thoughts? Let’s research some data to see if the stars even could align - economy, population, culture, climate, opportunity golf, etc.? 
 

I will say this, I believe the Thai players will bring a power game that the Koreans never had. Ariya and Patty set that bar way up high. And it’s just an observation but the Thai players look physically more powerfully built that the Korean players, who are more on the slight side. 

[Argonne69]

No, I don't think it's even close. Outside of a handful of Thai players on the LPGA, the highest ranked non-members are outside #200 in the world. 

 

There are over 100 Korean players on the KLPGA and JLPGA that are inside the Top 200, with 16 inside the Top 100. 

 

A Lim Kim is ahead of Bianca and Patty in the driving average rankings. Sung Hyun was very long before her shoulder injury. 

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by Argonne69

[HMHS]

my only concern is this: the bench.... thai players are good, no doubt... how deep is their "bench"... Patty, Ariya, Moriya, etc yes... will they have a deep bench?  maybe... time will tell - Jeen is one, maybe Jaravee, I dunno... I certainly am for it ☺︎  

 

For now, I'd say Koreans are clearly on their own perch... and rightfully, is the benchmark for LPGA participating countries ☺︎

[OBbogey5]

2030, got my eye on 2030!

[8602081]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

No, I don't think it's even close. Outside of a handful of Thai players on the LPGA, the highest ranked non-members are outside #200 in the world. 

 

There are over 100 Korean players on the KLPGA and JLPGA that are inside the Top 200, with 16 inside the Top 100. 

 

A Lim Kim is ahead of Bianca and Patty in the driving average rankings. Sung Hyun was very long before her shoulder injury. 

 

 

 

Let the man dream.. Could happen, you never know..

 

My new favorite player is Thitikul... But I think the announcers are mis-pronouncing on purpose after the first round..(they keep adding "n" to the end..)

 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, 8602081 said:

 

 

Let the man dream.. Could happen, you never know..

 

My new favorite player is Thitikul... But I think the announcers are mis-pronouncing on purpose after the first round..(they keep adding "n" to the end..)

 

 

Sure, I definitely see the Thai players trending up. However the Korean "bench" is simply too strong right now. Including the LPGA players, there are 32 players in the top 100, compared to 4 Thai players. The Top 200 includes 6 Thai players vs. 68 Korean players. That's huge. 

 

No doubt that Patty will likely inspire the next generation of players. 

 

[Cwebb]

1 hour ago, 8602081 said:

 

 

Let the man dream.. Could happen, you never know..

 

My new favorite player is Thitikul... But I think the announcers are mis-pronouncing on purpose after the first round..(they keep adding "n" to the end..)

 

 

 

 

 

She has an extra something in her eye.  Great attitude on the course.  I was impressed after her bad break on the first hole, with where her second shot ended up.  After making bogey, she genuinely laughed it off.

 

I was wondering about her name too.  Weird how the guy was saying it.  He was the only one pronouncing it that way

Edited May 8, 2021 by Cwebb

[Cwebb]

There's a concentration of talent there, for sure.

[8602081]

Seriously..  They do have some strong players.  Japan is also up and coming..  I think LPGA will become more popular, when it's more diverse in competition.

 

 

[coops]

4 hours ago, 8602081 said:

 

 

Let the man dream.. Could happen, you never know..

 

My new favorite player is Thitikul... But I think the announcers are mis-pronouncing on purpose after the first round..(they keep adding "n" to the end..)

 

 

 

 

 

Yet more fascinating Thai language info incoming....  😉

 

Her surname is indeed written as ending in an 'L'  

อาฒยา ฐิติกุล

(the transliteration to Engish alphabet is reasonably correct)... BUT in spoken Thai a word ending in the L sound changes to an "N" (in the start of a word or syllable an 'L' is pronounced normally)...

 

So the Tennis player Paradon - his nickname is 'Ball' (as in tennis ball i guess)... but this sounds like Bon when spoken by a Thai because of this language quirk.

 

so.... pronouncing Thithikul as "Thitikun" is actually more correct (!) - which is another good reason to just use her first name, or her Nickname 'Jeen'.

 

ps that 'k' in her transliterated surname is a 'g' sound, not a hard 'k' sound

 

@sigh@

 

In most transliteration systems, a 'hard' 'K' sound like the K in kiss, or c (!) in cake is transliterated as 'kh', a hard 'T' sounds like in taste is 'th', a hard 'P' is 'ph'.... which is why Phuket is pronounced with a hard P and not an F... mind you the k in the transliterated Phuket is correct, and that means it should be a G sound... so Phuket (better transliterated as Phuuket) should sound more like Poo-get (and with a low tone on the 'get' too).

And that does mean pretty much 99.9% of Westerners mispronounce Krabi - firstly the transliteration should really be more like Krabii, and it sounds like 'Gra-bee' spoken by a Thai And not 'Crabby' 😉

 

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by coops

[coops]

Here's how to Pronounce Athaya Thitikul in Thai

 

AtthayaThitikul.mp3

 

 

Snatched from a Youtube interview - felt like trying out my Audacity audio processing skills 😆

 

Here's the interview if you want to hear her in full flow Thai

 

 

 

[makaveli]

Unless something crazy happens Jeeno is about to be LPGA rookie of the year. She’s awesome and doesn’t get enough deserved exposure or credit here in the US. They pass over her name every time the players in the race to the cme globe are announced, ridiculous! She’s been in the 5th-6th spot for months! And thanks for clarifying why they say “Thitigun” because it was driving me nuts. Thought I was the only one that noticed it, lol. I’ll stick with Jeeno. 

[woahnelly]

18 hours ago, makaveli said:

Unless something crazy happens Jeeno is about to be LPGA rookie of the year. She’s awesome and doesn’t get enough deserved exposure or credit here in the US. They pass over her name every time the players in the race to the cme globe are announced, ridiculous! She’s been in the 5th-6th spot for months! And thanks for clarifying why they say “Thitigun” because it was driving me nuts. Thought I was the only one that noticed it, lol. I’ll stick with Jeeno. 

 

Don't count out Hye Jin. They are having about equal as good seasons even though Jeeno has a W, Hye Jin has done better in majors. 

[ChronicSlicer]

3 hours ago, woahnelly said:

 

Don't count out Hye Jin. They are having about equal as good seasons even though Jeeno has a W, Hye Jin has done better in majors. 

Still kinda odd considering Hye Jin a "rookie" considering her several years on the KLPGA. It is what it is though. Both having great years as well.

[woahnelly]

On 8/26/2022 at 8:22 PM, ChronicSlicer said:

Still kinda odd considering Hye Jin a "rookie" considering her several years on the KLPGA. It is what it is though. Both having great years as well.

 

Maybe in the not so distant future you could see the top 5 from Thailand and Korea being more even, but if you go top 20+ beyond the Koreans will always reign supreme because of the strength of the KLPGA. 

[makaveli]

Win #2 for Jeeno even though it was only a 54 hole event. Only 19 yrs old, yikes. 

[Argonne69]

7 hours ago, makaveli said:

Win #2 for Jeeno even though it was only a 54 hole event. Only 19 yrs old, yikes. 

 

'Very nice indeed, but let's keep it in perspective. Lydia won 14 times before her 20th birthday. 🙂

 

[Golf Dino]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

'Very nice indeed, but let's keep it in perspective. Lydia won 14 times before her 20th birthday.

 

Yes, agreed.  "Recency bias" is very prevalent these days 😉  😐 😂

[ChronicSlicer]

12 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

'Very nice indeed, but let's keep it in perspective. Lydia won 14 times before her 20th birthday. 🙂

 

I think of what she accomplished before she turned 18, then I hear the words phenom and superstar being tossed around at some of today's top amateurs who can't even crack the top ten at a LPGA event...

 

Lyd's was the definition of phenom and superstar.

 

[makaveli]

No recency bias at all here just keeping in context with this thread. I never compared Jeeno to Lydia.

[Golf Dino]

6 hours ago, makaveli said:

No recency bias at all here just keeping in context with this thread. I never compared Jeeno to Lydia.

 

Ok, I apologise for the bad pun . . . I was mentioning that "recency bias" was prevalent "these days" . . .  I will show myself out . . . 🤣

[makaveli]

9 hours ago, Golf Dino said:

 

Ok, I apologise for the bad pun . . . I was mentioning that "recency bias" was prevalent "these days" . . .  I will show myself out . . . 🤣

Its all good, I agree with your point, lol.  No need to leave my friend…by the way Jeeno would be tied for the lead if she didn’t bogey her final hole, unreal. She has to have RoY locked up by now.

Edited September 30, 2022 by makaveli

[Argonne69]

9 hours ago, makaveli said:

Its all good, I agree with your point, lol.  No need to leave my friend…by the way Jeeno would be tied for the lead if she didn’t bogey her final hole, unreal. She has to have RoY locked up by now.

 

Hye Jin still has a slim chance, as she needs to win at least one of the final few events.

 

[BadgerLin]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Hye Jin still has a slim chance, as she needs to win at least one of the final few events.

 

Well, it won’t be this week as she has WD from the Ascendant.

[Argonne69]

Delete. 

 

Edited September 30, 2022 by Argonne69

[makaveli]

18 hours ago, BadgerLin said:

Well, it won’t be this week as she has WD from the Ascendant.

After a 72 that’s odd. Wonder why