Games-Thai golf trio celebrate gold with shopping trip

By Minu Bak INCHEON, South Korea, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Thailand's gold medal-winning golf team let their hair down with a shopping trip to Seoul on Monday, but behind the smiles and giggles the trio said they are deadly serious about their sport. Thailand had never won a golf medal of any colour at the Asian Games but will return home with one of each after taking the women's team title as well as a silver and bronze in the individual event. Benyapa Niphatsophon, in between mouthfuls of Korean dried seaweed, told Reuters in an interview that she and team mates Supamas Sangchan and Budsabakorn Sukapan were virtually inseparable on and off the course. "We are like a family, we're sisters," she said in Seoul's shopping district of Myeongdong. "We talk together, we play together and we stay together all the time. I think the team who had the most teamwork at the Asian Games is Thailand this time." Surprise package Thailand had ended hosts South Korea's hopes of a third straight golfing sweep at the Games. Rarely a week goes by on the LPGA Tour without a South Korean challenging for silverware, and while Park Gyeol won the country's third consecutive individual title, the Thai team were simply too hot to handle at the Dream Park Country Club. The trio finished with a combined score of 32 under par for the four rounds, seven shots ahead of Park and South Korean team mates Choi Hye-jin and Lee So-young. "They were simply really amazing and fantastic this week," Park said after the final round. "We played rather safely in the Asian Games, but they were really aggressive, aiming for the pin whether it was a putt or a shot. "We were amazed at the aggressiveness of the team. It was really cool." In addition to spending hours practising back home in Thailand, the team also worked hard on the mental game. "In Thailand we have a psychologist, so that helped us a lot in the Asian Games this time," said 17-year-old Niphatsophon, who started playing golf at the age of seven. "Who got me into golf was Tiger Woods. I really like him," she added. "No one in my family plays golf, but I watched television and then I said to my mother I wanted to play." Niphatsophon said the thought of winning a gold medal had never entered their heads before arriving in Incheon and to return home with the team title was the best prize possible. "I didn't think about a gold medal, I just want to give something back to Thailand, any medal," she added. "When we finished and we got the gold medal, I'm very proud of me and my team mates. I'm very happy about that." (Writing by Peter Rutherford; Editing by Julian Linden)