Sadom Kaewkanjana turned heads in July by sitting a stroke off the lead after the first round of the Open Championship. How he got to Portrush is far more interesting
In Thailand, there’s a belief that when you’re 25, it’s an unlucky year, and something bad could happen to you. One way to avoid that is to get good karma. You can do that by becoming an ordained monk. Going through the training is also a way to honour your parents.
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When I was 25, I had full status on the Asian Tour. I left pro golf, moved into a forest temple and lived a different life, hardly speaking, for two weeks. We woke up at 5, got dressed and walked barefoot on the road into town. We could eat only food gifted to us. Silently, we relied on the kindness of strangers. We’d gather back at the temple and share what we collected. Throughout the day, we cleaned the temples, partook in prayer and meditation, attended funerals and blessed the homes of people about to move in. It trained my mind to stay in the present and be peaceful.
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I grew up with Buddhism, but before going through my training as a monk, I was the type of player who would get distracted by sounds like a camera clicking or applause from a different hole. I don’t hear those things on the golf course anymore. My discipline has improved. After experiencing how hard it was living as a monk, I am more grateful for how good my life is as a professional golfer.
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My dad was a single-digit handicap. He started bringing me to the course when I was 3. I loved playing golf with my dad, and by 6, I was competing. This was when Tiger was dominating, and that he was part Thai made me look up to him even more. I gave up soccer, tennis and swimming to focus on golf.
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We lived in the southernmost province in Thailand, on the Malaysian border in Su-ngai Kolok. My two older sisters didn’t play – they mostly stayed with my mum running our leather-goods store – and there weren’t many kids in our area who played golf. I loved travelling to new golf courses for tournaments because I’d meet golfers my age.
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The golf and school opportunities were better in Bangkok, a 17-hour drive from home. My sisters went there for school, and my dad and I moved there when I was 12. At first, we didn’t have a car, so we’d take my dad’s motorcycle to tournaments. I’d hold onto him with my golf bag on my back.
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The national team took notice of my results in junior tournaments, and I joined them when I was 16. We had a five-day camp once a month when we competed to earn our ranking within our 12-person team. Each month, the top-ranked players were sent to international tournaments. I got coaching, my expenses were paid and I was able to travel and make friends.
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I won some big tournaments, including the Philippine Amateur Open Championship and the Malaysian Amateur Open. I wanted to turn pro, but my dad advised me to stay on the national team to keep learning. Some college coaches in the US contacted me, but I knew I wanted to be a professional as soon as possible. I waited to be able to represent my country in the 2018 Asian Games. Then when I was 20, I turned professional.
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In my third tournament as a pro, I won. Two months later, I was in Bangladesh competing in my first Asian Tour event, and I won again. Despite a fast start, by the end of that season I’d developed chipping yips. Every time I missed a green, I couldn’t feel my hands.
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One of my sponsors, Singha, owns golf academies. During the Covid shutdown, I moved into one and practised. I chipped for a year-and-a-half. Tight lies are what I struggled with most, so I found the tightest lies I could and hit thousands of chips. Slowly, the feeling came back in my hands. The fear dissipated, as did my yips.
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The Thai Tour started before the Asian Tour, and I won five times in two-and-a-half months. One win was an Asian Tour event in Singapore, which earned me spots in the PGA Championship and the Open Championship.
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The 2022 PGA at Southern Hills was the first time I’d ever played in the US. It was longer than anything I’d seen. I also met Tiger. I thought he was going to be cold and intense, like how he is playing on TV, but he was really nice. I asked for his autograph and then my mind went blank. I speak conversational English but didn’t know what else to say.
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Later that summer, at the Open Championship at St Andrews, I finished T-11. This year, I qualified for The Open again from a win on the Asian Tour. I think I’m more ready to compete at higher levels than ever before, in large part due to the training I did to become an ordained monk.
Main Photograph by todd brown
