Bangkok, Thailand: Pongsapak ‘Fifa’ Laopakdee added a golden touch to a golden year by taking top golfing honours at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Six weeks ago, Fifa wrote his name into golf’s record books as the first Thai winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC). That triumph has earned him starting spaces in next year’s Masters Tournament and Open Championship.

Adding the icing on the cake to an annus mirabilis, Fifa swept to a stunning 11-stroke victory in the male individual category at the SEA Games.

With rounds of 65, 66, 66 and a closing 70, Fifa posted a 72-hole aggregate of 21-under-par 267 at Siam Country Club’s Rolling Hills course.

The individual silver medal went to Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Minh (278) with Thai Parin Sarasmut (280) claiming the bronze. Parin’s eight-under 64 on day two was the low round of the tournament.

With Fifa leading the charge, Thailand won the team gold with the home team quartet also comprising Parin, Thanawin Lee and Warut Boonrod. The best three daily scores in each four-man team were counted.

Team silver went to Indonesia (Randy Bintang, Rayhan Latief, Christian Susanto and Kenneth Sutianto). Anh Minh, Nguyen Tuan Anh, Ho Anh Huy and Nguyen Trong Hoang captured the bronze for Vietnam.

There was also a dominant performance from the Thai women with Prim Prachnakorn, Kritchanya Kaopattanaskul and Pimpisa Rubrong filling the top three places in the individual standings.

Fourth-placed Le Chuc An was awarded the bronze medal based on the ruling that any national organisation ‘cannot win more than two medals in the respective individual events’. It’s the first time a Vietnamese female has won a SEA Games golfing medal.

Kritchanya, winer of this year’s Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Junior Girls title, led by two from Prim heading into the final round. But while Kritchanya carded a closing 74, Prim swept to the summit with a bogey-free, six-under-par 66.

Rianne Malixi of the Philippines, winner of the US Women’s Amateur and US Junior Girls in 2024, had to settle for sixth place individually.

To her disappointment, the Philippines were edged out of the medals in the female team event in which the best two daily scores from each team of three were counted.

Team silver went to the Singapore trio of Inez Ng, Chen Xingtong and Valencia Chang, while Elaine Widjaja, Sania Wahyudi and Bianca Laksono combined to capture the bronze for Indonesia.