THE 154TH OPEN

July 16, 2026

Fifa Laopakdee

Mixed Zone

Q. How was your first round in The Open, Fifa?

FIFA LAOPAKDEE: I really wanted to capitalize on the morning tee time because it's such perfect weather out there and not that much wind. I thought I could have capitalized and made some birdies and climb up the leaderboard.

Unfortunately, my putting was not -- my pace control wasn't that good today. I missed all my birdie opportunities, made some great pars, but just a little pace control adjustment for tomorrow. I should be fine.

Q. What was the atmosphere like generally with the galleries and you've got a great reception coming down 18?

FIFA LAOPAKDEE: Yeah, it's such an amazing feeling playing in the majors and have all these people on the grandstands. It's only Thursday, and there's so much people already. So it was amazing.

Also playing with Sungjae and Dan Brown was amazing. Both of them are tied for first right now. So it was unbelievable to watch both of them playing today as well.

Q. Tell us a little bit about your buildup to the tournament. How many practice rounds you've had, how long you've been in UK.

FIFA LAOPAKDEE: I came to the UK pretty early. I came on the 4th of July, but I got a little lower back injury. So I took like a week off. This Monday was the first day I came back to practice.

Yeah, so my body feels great right now. It's just a little unfortunate that I got injured. I hope I could have got some reps in last week when I planned to come here early to get some reps in, get used to this course and weather. Unfortunately, it didn't go that way.

I was trying to do as much as possible to get ready for today and tomorrow for the whole week. I think I did a pretty good job. Yeah, just like I said, adapt on the pace control, and I should be fine.

Q. Tell us what exactly happened to your back. When did it happen, and what's the actual injury?

FIFA LAOPAKDEE: I got in London on the 4th night, and then I did a workout the next morning and got injured from doing the back squat lift, and I did it a little too heavy and got a muscle spasm in my lower back. I couldn't do any backswing, it was like a little sharp pain.

I was fortunate enough to find a good physical therapist in London and catch up with some people, with some physical therapists here in Southport. Without them, I'd probably have to withdraw this week. I'm fortunate enough to get them to help me get through the week.

Q. Is it feeling a little bit better now?

FIFA LAOPAKDEE: Yeah, no more pain. Just a little tight when waking up and after a round. That's it.

Q. Did you not have any practice rounds here then? No?

FIFA LAOPAKDEE: Not before this Monday, no. I was planning to have -- I had a tee time last Wednesday and Friday, but I had to cancel both of them.

Q. Have you ever played in conditions like this so fast and firm?

FIFA LAOPAKDEE: No, this is like my first. I've been to the UK ten years ago playing in Scotland, but I couldn't remember. It was ten years ago. It's like a whole new experience.

Yeah, I'm learning every moment of it. It's probably the most fun style of golf to play. You need all of your creativity and all of your visualization, especially around the greens. And also tee shots and second shots, you have to keep the ball on the ground. It's a lot different than what I play in America or Thailand. It's definitely been a good experience for me.

Q. What do you feel now for tomorrow, your strategy? You go out there feeling more relaxed, less nervous?

FIFA LAOPAKDEE: I didn't do too bad at all. There's a bunch of parts of my game that feels really solid right now. Like I said, if I could make a little more birdies tomorrow because today I hit a lot of greens.

Yeah, just tomorrow I need to capitalize on opportunities for tomorrow.

Q. Tell me a little bit also about the Masters experience and how that compared to here.

FIFA LAOPAKDEE: Both of these majors are one of the biggest and best golf tournaments in the whole world. Being the only Thai person to compete in this major is a huge honour already.

The tournament is the same, you know, both majors. It's just a different style of golf course. Same pressure, same style of practice and stuff. Yeah, both my majors were same, same but different.