Prior to the PGA Championship, Atiwit “Jazz” Janewattananond may have just been another unpronounceable foreign name to most American professional golfers and fans alike.

The 23-year-old Thai youngster gained an invitation to play the PGA Championship, the season’s second major by virtue of his world golf ranking. At 14 years of age in 2010 he became the youngest player to make the cut in an Asian Tour event.

Despite this few had heard of the 72nd ranked player in the world the week before the PGA Championship. Fewer yet would have known that Jazz attained that ranking by inching his way up the world rankings ladder winning the Queens Cup Asian Tour event in Thailand in July 2018, capturing the Asian Tour’s Singapore Open in January 2019 and finishing third at the Malaysian Maybank Open in March.

He shot an even par 70 in the first round of the PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course (par 70) in New York, two strokes better than Masters Champion Tiger Woods and seven strokes behind first round leader Brooks Koepka.

He followed this up by posting a second-round score of two-under-par 68 and tied for 10th place while Tiger Woods headed for the exits unable to make the cut with a cumulative score of five over par.

Asked about the rowdy New York fans trying to shout his last name during the two rounds, Jazz said “my first time ever getting a crowd like this, shouting my name. I don’t know how to react to it. This is my first time for the shouting. They give me some really funny names. I try not to remember it”. 

Not only did the brutal Bethpage Black course lay waste to Tiger Woods it also said goodbye to six other former PGA Championship winners, all failing to make the cut after Friday’s second round. 

He touched on the fact that his father nicknamed him Jazz. “My father loved jazz music. Apparently, it didn’t come through me. But, yeah, I like all kinds of music. Maybe the name helps.”

Atiwit’s amazing adventure was hardly about to end there. With five birdies and two bogeys in the third round he carded a score of three-under-par 70 to post a cumulative score of five-under-par.

This stunning performance, the feat of giants on the treacherous Black course earned him a scandalous tie for second place with three other men going into the final round.

Alongside him at five-under-par was world number one Dustin Johnson as well as Americans Harold Varner III and Luke List. They were all chasing leader and defending champion Brooks Koepka who had a staggering seven-stroke advantage after three rounds with a cumulative score of 12 under par. 

The positively perplexed Jazz commented after his round: “Arrive here on Monday, it was raining. Tuesday was raining. 

“The course plays so tough because the rough was so long, the ball didn’t go anywhere. I was having a nightmare. How am I going to play this golf course? I’m not going to break 80. This exceeded my expectation already.” 

The young Thai’s first visit to New York City was also nothing short of awe inspiring. 

“Friends take me out to see all of Manhattan, what’s it all about. Kind of a wow moment, and the buildings, it’s like a country jungle,” he said. 

With his second-place score going into the final round Jazz could have easily found himself paired with leader Koepka.

Instead he was paired with American Luke List, just ahead of Koepka. 

The conditions in the final round were nothing short of cruel with wind gusting up to 12 kilometers per hour. Nonetheless, Jazz experienced a though round shooting seven-over-par, he finished the event at two-over-par to tie for 14th place, which in and of itself was an epic feat.

To punctuate his future potential he finished better than an astounding 14 past major champions on route to earning a staggering purse of US$191,665. 

Koepka predictably repeated as PGA champion, shooting four-over-par to finish at eight-under for the event eventually only two strokes better than Dustin Johnson at six-under-par. 

With his historic win, Koepka seized the top position in the world golf ranking from Johnson who slips to number two.   

Jazz is now ranked 69 in the world and has served clear notice that he’s ready to contend on the global stage, has his sights on playing on the PGA Tour and will be teeing it up at the next major, the Open Championship in Portrush, Northern Ireland in July.

“It’s the first event [the PGA Championship] that I did in America with my own ranking, so that feels pretty good to be here. You feel like you belong,” he said earlier this week.

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