Patty Tavatanakit Awarded LPGA Rookie of the Year

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Patty Tavatanakit, a former All-American in her time at UCLA, has been named the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the year for the 2021 season, the LPGA announced on Monday.
 
Tavatanakit won an LPGA Major tournament at the ANA Inspiration in April and recorded eight other Top 10 finishes in the season. Tavatanakit clinched the award despite there being two events left on the 2021 LPGA season. Per Golf Digest, "her lead in points race is too great for anyone to be able to catch her."
 
Since leaving UCLA two years early to turn pro in 2019, she won three events on the Symetra Tour, earning her LPGA Tour card for 2020, and has catapulted from 161st to 12th in the world player rankings since the end of 2020. She won the Rolex Annika Major Award earlier in 2021 following her performance at the AIG Women's Open.
 
"Earning this award is a dream come true for me," Tavatanakit said of winning Rookie of the Year honors in an interview with Golf Digest. "It's once in a lifetime. I'm so thrilled that I get to add my name to a spectacular list of recipients that I have looked up to for many years. This season has been one to remember, and I'm excited to finish 2021 strong as the Tour's newest Rookie of the Year."
 
At the ANA Inspiration, Tavatanakit shot four sub-70 rounds including a 6-under 66 to en route to a total score of 18-under 270 for the major title.
 
Tavatanakit finished tied for 3rd at both the HSBC Women's World Championship in late April and Honda LPGA Thailand in May. Her three other Top 5 finishes came at the Cambia Portland Classic on September 16, KPMG Women's PGA Championship on August 24 and Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play hosted by Shadow Creek.
 
Tavatanakit represented her home country of Thailand earlier this year at the Tokyo Olympics.