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Former Duke Golfer Virada Nirapathpongporn Nets First Professional Title
April 25, 2005
Release and photo provided by FUTURES Golf Tour
MCALLEN, Texas, April 24, 2005 -- Virada Nirapathpongporn, the woman with the longest name in professional golf, makes no apologies for taking the long route to the winner's circle. She joined the FUTURES Golf Tour last May and was winless in 2004.
But NP3, as she is often called for expediency, earned her first professional title today at the $70,000 Jalapeno FUTURES Golf Classic. And she did it by firing a four-under-par 68 in the final round at Palm View Golf Course, holding off Becky Lucidi of Poway, Calif., who finished second with a closing round of six-under 66. For 54 holes, Nirapathpongporn toured Palm View at 12-under-par 204, edging Lucidi at 205 (-11).
And while many have wondered why the player with the most decorated golf resume on the FUTURES Golf Tour has taken so long to win her first pro title, the former NCAA champion and U.S. Women's Amateur champion has a simple explanation.
"I don't like to skip a step in anything," said the native of Bangkok, Thailand. "As frustrated as I might have seemed last year, I wasn't quite ready to be there yet. Everybody was like, 'You've won on every level, so why haven't you won?' But maybe I wasn't ready. I think I needed all of that time to get ready for the next level."
Nirapathpongporn came into the week with more than a golf tournament on her mind. Earlier this month, she went home to compete in the Thailand Ladies Open outside of Bangkok. The local favorite finished tied for seventh and enjoyed a week in which her likeness was splashed on posters throughout the city.
"She's kind of like a rock star over there," said fellow FUTURES Tour member Libby Smith of Essex Junction, Vt., who also played in the Thailand Ladies Open. "Her face was everywhere."
But two days later, the golf pro found herself at home with her family, gripping the cruel reality of leukemia. Her father, Dr. Apichart Nirapathpongporn, a retired surgeon, succumbed to the disease on April 5. Stunned, the young pro spent the next week with her family about as far from golf as she could get.
Word slowly spread among her FUTURES Tour peers that the popular player's father was gone and many were surprised to see Nirapathpongporn arrive in Texas three weeks later. On Wednesday, as tough as she is, the wave of pain swept over her. Her voice quivered and she had tears in her eyes as she tried to wear the necessary game face and yet deal with an aching desire to be with her family so far away.
"We were trying to balance between letting her heal, letting her grieve and trying to play tournament golf," said caddie Chris McCalmont, who celebrated the same birthday as his player last Thursday. "On Wednesday, she cried for an hour, and then she said she was ready to play. For her to win today says a lot about how strong she is."
Nirapathpongporn must have drawn deep from something bigger than sheer human will when she carded a first-round 66 on Friday to charge into second behind frontrunner Nicole Castrale of Palm Desert, Calif., who set the pace on the par-72, 6,381-yard course with an opening 65. By Saturday, NP3 had moved to the top of the leaderboard at eight-under 136 with a 70 in the second round.
"I don't know how I did it," Nirapathpongporn said. "I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to focus. On Friday, I felt like I could burst at any time. So whenever I had a thought about my dad, I wouldn't let myself think it. I felt it would do no one any good. I knew this was going to be a different kind of preparation this week, but I said, 'I'm going to play.'"
And that, she did.
The heady four-time All-American from Duke University started today's final round with a two-shot lead and gradually put three shots between herself, Castrale and Lucidi. Nirapathpongporn was the center of a University of Southern California sandwich against the former Trojan college roommates, but she didn't get rattled even when Lucidi, herself a former U.S. Women's Amateur champion (2002), rammed in consecutive 12-foot birdies on holes six and seven.
A distant chaser, Sun Young Yoo of Seoul, Korea, fired a career-low final-round score of 65 to charge into third place at 207 (-9). The 18-year-old rookie hit 16 greens and rolled in 28 putts to move within three shots of Nirapathpongporn.
But while putts wouldn't fall for Castrale, the afternoon had largely turned into a nose-to-nose competition between Lucidi and Nirapathpongporn.
Lucidi never backed down, cranking her drive on the par-5, 488-yard 10th hole, cutting a 3-wood to 12 feet, then holing another 12-footer for an eagle-3 to catch the leader. But the Thai player calmly pitched to 1½ feet on the 10th hole and carded a birdie to stay one shot ahead. With six holes to play, she birdied Nos. 13 and 16, stumbling only on the par-three 17th hole when she pushed her 4-iron tee shot pin-high right and didn't get up and down for par.
"I tried to swing too easy," said Nirapathpongporn of the shot that trimmed her lead to only one stroke with one hole to play. "I told myself, 'Don't worry. Do your thing and you'll be just fine.'"
With the chance of a possible playoff looming, Lucidi again striped her drive on the final hole and knocked her pitching wedge approach to 18 feet. But the dimpled Californian, playing in her first FUTURES Tour event, left her putt short, which also left the door open for Nirapathpongporn to finish off that long-awaited first professional win.
"There were quite a few people following us and it was loud and awesome out there," said Lucidi. "Unfortunately, on that last hole, I forgot to hit my putt."
Nirapathpongporn's walk to the 18th green today must have seemed like a dream to the Thai player, who arrived at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy as a 15-year old. She came to America to follow a dream and the timing coincided with a downturn in Thailand's economy that put a pinch even on the budgets of two parents who were physicians.
"It was difficult then and I put a lot of pressure on myself because I wanted to do well for my parents," she recalled. "But I worked my way through it. That's me. I struggled with English, with golf, with everything, but it was more rewarding at the end."
And at the end of today's inaugural Jalapeno FUTURES Golf Classic, Nirapathpongporn stood over her putt. In the distance, she heard a marshal say, "Stand please" to the excited gallery inching forward. She told herself she'd better get used to marshals, crowds and noise. And she told herself to stay with her shot, to "finish the day."
Perhaps more importantly, Nirapathpongporn finished the week -- a grueling test of emotions that started a day before her 23rd birthday and ended with a new tradition of the champion taking a chomp out of one of the jalapeno peppers stuffed inside her crystal trophy. NP3 gamely took the chomp. NP3 was the champ, moving from 27th to second on the season's money list and putting her into position to move on to another dream on the LPGA Tour.
"I'm coming along just the way I planned," she said after the awards ceremony. "Of course, life is not so linear. It comes with a lot of challenges, but I think it's a blessing in disguise."
For scores and more information, please visit our web site at futurestour.com.
Weather: Partly cloudy early with sunny skies in the afternoon with temperatures in the low-80s. Winds were calm in the morning, building in the afternoon to 10-15 mph.
Final round scores and money Sunday in the FUTURES Golf Tour's $70,000 Jalapeno FUTURES Golf Classic at the 6381-yard, par 36-36 - 72, Palm View Golf Course. (a-denotes amateur):--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Virada Nirapathpongporn (Bangkok, Thailand) 66-70-68 - 204 $9,800
2 Becky Lucidi (Poway, Calif.) 68-71-66 - 205 $7,000
3 Sun Young Yoo (Seoul, Korea) 69-73-65 - 207 $5,177
4 Nicole Castrale (Palm Desert, Calif.) 65-73-70 - 208 $4,127
5 Anna Rawson (Adelaide, Australia) 71-71-67 - 209 $3,357
T6 Cristina Baena (Pereira, Colombia) 71-72-67 - 210 $2,277 Seon-Hwa Lee (Chonan, Korea) 71-72-67 - 210 $2,277 Libby Smith (Essex Junction, Vt.) 72-69-69 - 210 $2,277
T9 Su A Kim (Seoul, Korea) 69-71-71 - 211 $1,782 Mollie Fankhauser (Columbus, Ohio) 70-70-71 - 211 $1,782
T11 Kellee Booth (McKinney, Texas) 72-71-70 - 213 $1,437 Kyeong Bae (Seoul, Korea) 72-70-71 - 213 $1,437 Alena Sharp (Hamilton, Ontario) 74-67-72 - 213 $1,437
T14 Li-Ying Ye (Shanghai, China) 71-73-70 - 214 $1,257 Taylor Leon (a) (Dallas, Texas) 70-73-71 - 214
T16 Marianne Morris (Middletown, Ohio) 71-72-72 - 215 $1,126 Meredith Ward (Crystal Lake, Ill.) 73-68-74 - 215 $1,126
T18 Hye Jung Choi (Seoul, Korea) 72-75-69 - 216 $1,005 Ji Min Jeong (Kyungki, Korea) 74-72-70 - 216 $1,005
T20 Jan Dowling (Bradford, Ontario) 73-74-70 - 217 $860 Courtney Wood (Brentwood, Tenn.) 74-73-70 - 217 $860 Katie Connelly (Beloit, Wis.) 71-73-73 - 217 $860 Kristin Dufour (Austin, Texas) 70-73-74 - 217 $860 Sarah Lynn Johnston (St. Charles, Ill.) 71-72-74 - 217 $860
25 Jenny Gleason (Clearwater, Fla.) 75-70-73 - 218 $750
T26 Tiffany Faucette (Ormond Beach, Fla.) 71-77-71 - 219 $609 Hong Mei Yang (Si Chuan, China) 74-74-71 - 219 $609 Sarah-Jane Kenyon (Queensland, Australia) 74-73-72 - 219 $609 Laura Myerscough (Charleston, Ill.) 73-74-72 - 219 $609 Seul Ki Kim (Incheon, Korea) 71-76-72 - 219 $609 Meredith Duncan (Shreveport, La.) 71-75-73 - 219 $609 Katie Futcher (The Woodlands, Texas) 72-74-73 - 219 $609
T33 Christi Cano (San Antonio, Texas) 71-78-71 - 220 $466 Anna Knutsson (Malmo, Sweden) 72-74-74 - 220 $466
T35 Randi Meadows (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas) 74-74-73 - 221 $417 Natalie Wong (Montebello, Calif.) 74-73-74 - 221 $417 Jessica Krasny (Summerville, S.C.) 68-78-75 - 221 $417
T38 Heather Zielinski (Sylvania, Ohio) 74-77-71 - 222 $350 Lori Atsedes (Ithaca, N.Y.) 74-76-72 - 222 $350 Kareen Qually (Olds, Alberta) 75-75-72 - 222 $350 Kristy McPherson (Conway, S.C.) 76-74-72 - 222 $350 Heidi Chua (Manila, Philippines) 76-74-72 - 222 $350 Shayne Wild (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) 76-74-72 - 222 $350 Courtney Trimble (Duluth, Ga.) 77-71-74 - 222 $350
T45 Tara Bateman (Phoenix, Ariz.) 71-80-72 - 223 $286 Briana Vega (North Andover, Mass.) 72-79-72 - 223 $286 Lisa Chang (Los Angeles, Calif.) 75-75-73 - 223 $286 Kelly Lagedrost (Brooksville, Fla.) 75-75-73 - 223 $286 Christine Boucher (Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec) 77-73-73 - 223 $286 Julie Turner (Skaneateles, N.Y.) 71-78-74 - 223 $286 Allison Fouch (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 71-77-75 - 223 $286 Sapna Patel (Sydney, Australia) 75-73-75 - 223 $286 Jeanne Cho (Orlando, Fla.) 71-75-77 - 223 $286 Sarah Huarte (Shingle Springs, Calif.) 72-72-79 - 223 $286 May Wood (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) 72-71-80 - 223 $286
T56 Kristina Tucker (Stockholm, Sweden) 74-77-73 - 224 $231 Kylie Pratt (Mackay, Australia) 76-75-73 - 224 $231 Sasha Medina (Ponce, Puerto Rico) 74-76-74 - 224 $231 Dana Lacey (North Beach, W. Australia) 77-72-75 - 224 $231 Blair O'Neal (Tempe, Ariz.) 77-70-77 - 224 $231
T61 Kim Augusta (Rumford, R.I.) 74-75-76 - 225 $203 Nisha Sadekar (Toronto, Ontario) 73-76-76 - 225 $203 Amy Langhals (Kalida, Ohio) 72-74-79 - 225 $203
T64 Carrie Dykstra (Waupun, Wis.) 74-76-76 - 226 $185 Tamara Johns (Queensland, Australia) 74-75-77 - 226 $185
T66 Yuho Okubo (Nagoya, Japan) 75-76-76 - 227 $154 Lynn Valentine (East Lyme, Conn.) 74-76-77 - 227 $154 Annie Schlosser (Las Vegas, Nev.) 73-77-77 - 227 $154 Chiharu Yamaguchi (Tochigi, Japan) 75-75-77 - 227 $154 Leigh Anne Hardin (Martinsville, Ind.) 75-74-78 - 227 $154 Lindy Hitdlebaugh (Gretna, La.) 72-76-79 - 227 $154 Julie Tvede (Copenhagen, Denmark) 75-73-79 - 227 $154
73 Ginny Brown (a) (Austin, Texas) 74-76-78 - 228
--- Failed to Qualify --- Meaghan Francella (Port Chester, N.Y.) 77-75 - 152 Anna Temple (Berkeley, Calif.) 76-76 - 152 Jin Young Pak (Kang Leoung, Korea) 75-77 - 152 Melanie Willhite (Clarksville, Tenn.) 75-77 - 152 Jo Clingan (Gloucester, England) 75-77 - 152 Adrienne Gautreaux (Mabank, Texas) 74-78 - 152 Katie Quinney (Jacksonville, Fla.) 72-80 - 152 Kimberly Adams (Tide Head, New Brunswick) 74-78 - 152
Ashley Prange (Noblesville, Ind.) 77-76 - 153 Courtney Pomeranz (Sanford, N.C.) 77-76 - 153 Jana Peterkova (Czech Republic) 77-76 - 153 Salimah Mussani (Burlington, Ontario) 76-77 - 153 Aimee Cho (Seoul, Korea) 76-77 - 153 Beth Hermes (Dixon, Ill.) 75-78 - 153 Ashley Leonard (Rocky Mount, N.C.) 72-81 - 153 Debbie Eckroth (Harrisburg, Pa.) 72-81 - 153
Suzie Fisher (Coffs Harbour, Australia) 77-77 - 154 Lisa Fernandes (Huntersville, N.C.) 76-78 - 154 Jen Hanna (Greenville, S.C.) 76-78 - 154 Rachel Bates (Farragut, Tenn.) 80-74 - 154 Cortney Reno (Grosse Ile, Mich.) 74-80 - 154
Alison Hiller (Atlanta, Ga.) 77-78 - 155 Jeannine Fiorito (Las Vegas, Nev.) 77-78 - 155
Maria Kim (Asuncion, Paraguay) 76-80 - 156 Jennifer Perri (Eden Prairie, Minn.) 77-79 - 156 Marousa Polias (New South Wales, Australia) 78-78 - 156 Sunny Oh (Seoul, Korea) 78-78 - 156 Jessica Lewis (Bethesda, Md.) 82-74 - 156
Cindy Wulf (Jacksonville, Fla.) 77-80 - 157 Saki Uechi (Redondo Beach, Calif.) 76-81 - 157
Wendy Mazza (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 77-81 - 158 Yoo La Kim (Seoul, Korea) 78-80 - 158 Sue Horton (Essex Junction, Vt.) 79-79 - 158 Melanie Holmes-Smith (Melbourne, Australia) 79-79 - 158
Heather Angell (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 77-82 - 159 Jillian Wyne (Calgary, Alberta) 78-81 - 159 Jamie Koizumi (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii) 78-81 - 159 Logan Johnson (Houston, Texas) 80-79 - 159
Katrina Leckovic (Burnaby, British Columbia) 80-80 - 160
Jamie Stevenson (Mayfield, Utah) 77-84 - 161 Christina Monacelli (Ocean Ridge, Fla.) 76-85 - 161
Carrie Sordel (Windermere, Fla.) 77-85 - 162 Andrea Werner (Evansville, Ind.) 76-86 - 162 Kim Kouwabunpat (Upland, Calif.) 80-82 - 162
Brandi Jo Newman (San Antonio, Texas) 79-84 - 163 Patricia Beliard (Pontarlier, France) 80-83 - 163 Kim Lewellen (Wake Forest, N.C.) 80-83 - 163 Stephanie Bell (Rochester, N.Y.) 81-82 - 163
Susan Fasoldt (Sarasota, Fla.) 81-83 - 164 Lorna Miedema (Orlando, Fla.) 82-82 - 164
Lisa Whitt (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 81-84 - 165
Jennifer Carter (Tampa, Fla.) 84-82 - 166
Celina James (Rivers State, Nigeria) 83-84 - 167 Jana Harmon (Plano, Texas) 84-83 - 167
Cecilie Eckbo (Ski, Norway) 85-90 - 175
Lacey Englert (Plano, Texas) 83-93 - 176
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Valeria Ochoa (Miramar, Fla.) WDI Allie Blomquist (Afton, Minn.) DQ Kris Nelson (Scottsdale, Ariz.) DQ
