Latest news with #Kaewkanjana
Time of India
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Who Is Sadom Kaewkanjana? Thai Buddhist Monk Turned British Open Contender
(Image Source - Getty Images) Sadom Kaewkanjana has turned into a surprising competitor at the 2025 British Open. This 27-year-old from Thailand, who is both a pro golfer and an ordained Buddhist monk, amazed the crowd at Royal Portrush with a nearly perfect first round, carding a 3-under 68 and sitting just one stroke away from the clubhouse lead. His story is from a Buddhist monastery to the golf leaderboard of the oldest championship and is as extraordinary as his performance. Sadom Kaewkanjana becomes the first Thai golfer to finish T-11 at the British Open Sadom Kaewkanjana stands out as a golfer. Originating from Thailand, he has established a strong presence on the Asian Tour and Thailand Golf Tour, securing three and five victories respectively. His impressive performance brought him a career-high world ranking of 75th, allowing him to compete in major championships such as the PGA Championship in 2022 and 2023. Yet, it was his debut at the British Open in 2022 that truly made waves. At St. Andrews, the iconic home of golf, tied for 11th place setting a record for the best finish by a Thai player in the tournament's history. Kaewkanjana stands out because of his time spent as a Buddhist monk. In 2023, he took a two-week hiatus from golf to get ordained, something many Thai men in their 20s do. During this time, he resided in a monastery, where he meditated, absorbed Buddhist teachings, and contributed to his community. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Live Update: The Strategy Uses By Successful Intraday Trader TradeWise Learn More Undo 'I was ordained because I wanted to return the greatest merit and repay my parents,' he said, reflecting a deep cultural tradition. Isolated from everything during his ordination, Kaewkanjana discovered a deeper sense of tranquility. 'That made me feel more calm. I was able to concentrate more, which will help me improve my game of golf,' he told reporters in an interview following his monkhood. Sadom Kaewkanjana was cut from the PGA twice but came back stronger Before becoming a monk, Sadom Kaewkanjana was already making waves in the golf scene. His 11th-place finish at St. Andrews in 2022 showed he could hold his own against the top players, even with not much experience on links courses. He also qualified for the PGA Championship in both 2022 and 2023, although he didn't make the cut in either tournament. Regardless, these experiences helped cement his reputation as one of Thailand's leading golfers. His decision to become a monk in 2023 wasn't a retreat from golf but a step toward enhancing it. 'Being a monk was helping me concentrate on the golf course and improve my focus,' He talked to reporters after his first round at Royal Portrush. The meditation techniques he used staying in the moment and releasing distractions—reflect the mental challenges of golf, particularly when facing the pressure of a major tournament. During the same tournament, Jon Rahm was clearly annoyed and even snapped at a fan for whistling while he was about to hit. In contrast, Kaewkanjana kept his cool, his calm demeanor really setting him apart from the rest. Kaewkanjana has a chance to make history once again in a few rounds remaining in the 2025 British Open. A good ending may see his world ranking improve and he may emerge as one of the big guns. Also Read: Jon Rahm confronts whistling fan after tee shot goes wrong on brutal 11th hole at The Open His achievements would also boost the status of golf in Thailand, attracting more interests and funds. The other golfers of the world will also be on the edge of their seats, as he goes after the Claret Jug, as they are fascinated whether this monk-turned-golfer will come up with a splash with every swing of his club. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
The Hindu
18-07-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Who is Sadom Kaewkanjana, the Buddhist monk from Thailand participating in British Open
Fickle weather and funny bounces are classic features of links golf, making the British Open a test of the mind as much as anything else. Perhaps, then, it's no surprise to see Sadom Kaewkanjana near the top of the leaderboard at Royal Portrush. Kaewkanjana is an ordained Buddhist monk from Thailand who took a break from golf in 2023 to practice meditation. He said being a monk was helping him 'concentrate on the golf course' and improve his focus. 'Forget everything outside, just live in the present,' he said after shooting a 3-under 68 in his first round to be one stroke off the clubhouse lead in his second appearance at golf's oldest championship. In his first — in 2022 — he finished tied for 11th place at the home of golf in St. Andrews. That was his only previous experience of links golf. Sadom Kaewkanjana places his ball on the 18th green on the opening day of the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush golf club in Northern Ireland on July 17, 2025. | Photo Credit: ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP 'When I play links course, it's a new experience for me,' the 27-year-old Kaewkanjana said. 'I really enjoy to play a links course. It's fun to play with a windy course and tough conditions.' Kaewkanjana had the most fun at No. 5, a drivable par 4. He reached the green with his tee shot and holed an eagle putt from 20 feet. Kaewkanjana, ranked 262nd in the world, qualified for the Open by winning the Kolon Korea Open in May.
Indian Express
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Meet Sadom Kaewkanjana, a 27-year-old Buddhist monk and golfer from Thailand who is contending at British Open
Fickle weather and funny bounces are classic features of links golf, making the British Open a test of the mind as much as anything else. Perhaps, then, it's no surprise to see Sadom Kaewkanjana near the top of the leaderboard at Royal Portrush. Kaewkanjana is an ordained Buddhist monk from Thailand who took a break from golf in 2023 to practice meditation. He said being a monk was helping him 'concentrate on the golf course' and improve his focus. 'Forget everything outside, just live in the present,' he said after shooting a 3-under 68 in his first round to be one stroke off the clubhouse lead in his second appearance at golf's oldest championship. 'I was cut off from the rest of the world when I was ordained,' Kaewanjana, ranked 262nd in the world, told 'That made me feel more calm. I was able to concentrate more, which will help me improve my game of golf.' In his first — in 2022 — he finished tied for 11th place at the home of golf in St. Andrews. That was his only previous experience of links golf. 'When I play links course, it's a new experience for me,' the 27-year-old Kaewkanjana said. 'I really enjoy to play a links course. It's fun to play with a windy course and tough conditions.' Kaewkanjana had the most fun at No. 5, a drivable par 4. He reached the green with his tee shot and holed an eagle putt from 20 feet. Sadom Kaewkanjana's major championship experience Kaewkanjana is competing in his fourth major championship. He had previously qualified for the PGA Championship in both 2022 and 2023 due to his strong World Golf Ranking, where he has reached as high as 75th globally. Kaewkanjana also holds the record for the highest finish by a Thai player in British Open history, tying for 11th at St. Andrews in 2022.
The National
17-07-2025
- Sport
- The National
Five-way tie at top after the first round of The Open
'It felt like we were on the golf course for about 12 hours,' gasped Marc Leishman as the Australian reflected on a long, long first round of play at Royal Portrush. 'We were three hours for eight holes.' On trying days like this, patience is very much a virtue. Perhaps that's why Thailand's Sadom Kaewkanjana prospered? Patience, after all, is one of the highest forms of spiritual effort – well, so I'm told – and Kaewkanjana demonstrated plenty of that as his bid to become the first ordained Buddhist monk to lift the Claret Jug got off to a sprightly start. Now there's a sentence you don't read at every Open, eh? While Jacob Skov Olesen, Haotong Li, Harris English, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and former US Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick formed a five-way logjam at the top, Kaewkanjana was flying high with a three-under 68 that was illuminated by a putt of almost 25-feet for an eagle-two on the fifth. The 27-year-old has played in just one Open before but made a decent fist of it at St Andrews in 2022 and shared 11th. A few months after that, he took a sabbatical, swapped the fairways and polo shirts for the monastery and saffron robes and committed himself to a life of meditation, prayer, discipline and introspection. This game, as we all know, can be a mind-mangling endeavour and the storm-tossed waters of a golfer's psyche could just about lead to a series of warnings on the Shipping Forecast. There are no such issues on that front for Kaewkanjana. 'Being a monk gives me a lot of focus,' said the Asian Tour winner, whose patience was tested even further this week by the late arrival of his luggage. 'Forget everything outside, just live in the present.' Perhaps we should all try that approach at the Saturday medal? After the heatwave of last week's Scottish Open, the conditions here on the Antrim coast for the final men's major of the campaign were, well, changeable. 'I'd love to be a weather man here, you'd get it wrong all the time,' chuckled Jason Day of conditions that fluctuated between fresh and muggy and featured the odd furious downpour. The joys of the links. When Rory McIlroy took to the first tee just after 3pm, the reigning Masters champion was given an ovation that shoogled the foundations of the grandstand. The vast crowds then held their collective breath. Six years ago, the last time Portrush hosted The Open, McIlroy started with an eight. There was no such calamity this time, although when he missed a short putt for his par on the opening green, a mighty groan drifted over the Dunluce links. It turned out to be a typically eventful ride. The media lads and lassies that were documenting McIlroy's every crash, bang and wallop probably didn't require an official inside the ropes armband. He seemed to spend a lot of time beyond those bloomin' ropes as he struggled to hit a fairway. As for Bryson DeChambeau? Well, at times it felt like he'd struggle to keep his ball in Northern Ireland during a turbulent 78. A fresh air shot on the fourth was a particularly low moment. McIlroy may have struggled to find the short stuff – he hit just two of 14 fairways – but he still emerged with a one-under 70. 'It was a tough enough day, especially as I was either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time,' said McIlroy, who holed an important par putt on 15 to keep his round together. 'To shoot under-par was a good effort.' Up at the head of the standings, Olesen, out in the fourth match early on, set the target of four-under and remained at the summit all day, apart from a brief spell when English hauled himself to five-under before dropping back again. Olesen played in last year's Open having won the Amateur Championship on Irish soil at Ballyliffin. The Dane gave up his invitation to this year's Masters to pursue his professional ambitions after earning his DP World Tour card. Any regrets? 'I'm at ease with the decision,' he said. 'I actually got tickets for the Monday practice at Augusta but we never got in as it got cancelled by the weather.' If he keeps going like this, he may earn another invitation as a player. There's a long way to go before he can start thinking about that, of course. Fitzpatrick's return to form continued with a 67 of his own while Scottie Scheffler, the world No 1, opened with a 68. English veteran, Lee Westwood, rolled back a few years with a 69. Xander Schauffele, the reigning champion, was level-par. Another long day awaits.
The Herald Scotland
17-07-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Five-way tie at top after the first round of The Open
On trying days like this, patience is very much a virtue. Perhaps that's why Thailand's Sadom Kaewkanjana prospered? Patience, after all, is one of the highest forms of spiritual effort – well, so I'm told – and Kaewkanjana demonstrated plenty of that as his bid to become the first ordained Buddhist monk to lift the Claret Jug got off to a sprightly start. Now there's a sentence you don't read at every Open, eh? While Jacob Skov Olesen, Haotong Li, Harris English, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and former US Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick formed a five-way logjam at the top, Kaewkanjana was flying high with a three-under 68 that was illuminated by a putt of almost 25-feet for an eagle-two on the fifth. The 27-year-old has played in just one Open before but made a decent fist of it at St Andrews in 2022 and shared 11th. A few months after that, he took a sabbatical, swapped the fairways and polo shirts for the monastery and saffron robes and committed himself to a life of meditation, prayer, discipline and introspection. This game, as we all know, can be a mind-mangling endeavour and the storm-tossed waters of a golfer's psyche could just about lead to a series of warnings on the Shipping Forecast. There are no such issues on that front for Kaewkanjana. 'Being a monk gives me a lot of focus,' said the Asian Tour winner, whose patience was tested even further this week by the late arrival of his luggage. 'Forget everything outside, just live in the present.' Perhaps we should all try that approach at the Saturday medal? After the heatwave of last week's Scottish Open, the conditions here on the Antrim coast for the final men's major of the campaign were, well, changeable. 'I'd love to be a weather man here, you'd get it wrong all the time,' chuckled Jason Day of conditions that fluctuated between fresh and muggy and featured the odd furious downpour. The joys of the links. When Rory McIlroy took to the first tee just after 3pm, the reigning Masters champion was given an ovation that shoogled the foundations of the grandstand. The vast crowds then held their collective breath. Six years ago, the last time Portrush hosted The Open, McIlroy started with an eight. There was no such calamity this time, although when he missed a short putt for his par on the opening green, a mighty groan drifted over the Dunluce links. It turned out to be a typically eventful ride. The media lads and lassies that were documenting McIlroy's every crash, bang and wallop probably didn't require an official inside the ropes armband. He seemed to spend a lot of time beyond those bloomin' ropes as he struggled to hit a fairway. As for Bryson DeChambeau? Well, at times it felt like he'd struggle to keep his ball in Northern Ireland during a turbulent 78. A fresh air shot on the fourth was a particularly low moment. McIlroy may have struggled to find the short stuff – he hit just two of 14 fairways – but he still emerged with a one-under 70. 'It was a tough enough day, especially as I was either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time,' said McIlroy, who holed an important par putt on 15 to keep his round together. 'To shoot under-par was a good effort.' Up at the head of the standings, Olesen, out in the fourth match early on, set the target of four-under and remained at the summit all day, apart from a brief spell when English hauled himself to five-under before dropping back again. Olesen played in last year's Open having won the Amateur Championship on Irish soil at Ballyliffin. The Dane gave up his invitation to this year's Masters to pursue his professional ambitions after earning his DP World Tour card. Any regrets? 'I'm at ease with the decision,' he said. 'I actually got tickets for the Monday practice at Augusta but we never got in as it got cancelled by the weather.' If he keeps going like this, he may earn another invitation as a player. There's a long way to go before he can start thinking about that, of course. Fitzpatrick's return to form continued with a 67 of his own while Scottie Scheffler, the world No 1, opened with a 68. English veteran, Lee Westwood, rolled back a few years with a 69. Xander Schauffele, the reigning champion, was level-par. Another long day awaits.
