Hard work rarely goes unrewarded and in the case of Thailand's newest sporting darling Ariya Jutanugarn, it has paid off in a pretty handsome manner.
And add to her toils those title-denying late meltdowns, the 2016 LPGA player of the year Ariya has had her share of setbacks and heartbreaks to make her success at the highest level of international golf even sweeter.
Introduced to golf by her father Somboon at the age of five, it took the Thai star 15 years to win her first LPGA Tour title, which helped her cross a major mental barrier and then there was no looking back for Ariya, now 21.
It happened when she was pretty close to cementing her reputation as one of the biggest under-achievers in golf.
Now, only after two seasons on the tour, her resume boasts of five titles including one major.
She has won about US$3 million (approximately 106 million baht) in prize money and got $1 million in bonus as the 2016 Race to the CME Globe winner.
"Her success has proved that my theory is practical," said Somboon, who mentored the careers of his daughters, Ariya and Moriya.
Somboon has always been a strong advocate of starting the kids at an early age to help them succeed in golf.
Ariya took up golf when she was five, while her elder sister Moriya started playing the sport at the age of seven.
Moreover, Somboon wanted his daughters to have the same level of physical strength as the Europeans and Americans so they were put through a lot of exercises, so much so that they sport better driving distances than their rivals from other countries.
"We invested a lot, but they are doing well. I am happy to see them progress," Somboon said.
In fact, Ariya started proving Somboon's theory right when she was quite young.
She was second to none in Thailand and when she played abroad, Ariya showcased her talent in impressive ways. She won the Rolex Junior Player of the Year award in 2011 and 2012.
Like many great players, Ariya's path to glory wasn't a joyride.
In February 2010, when she was an amateur, she and Moriya got a three-month suspension by the Thailand Golf Association (TGA) for breaking a golf code by receiving financial support from Siam Cement Group (SCG).
"It was just a silly mistake and we accepted that," Somboon said. "SCG is still our sponsor."
The LPGA Tour denied Ariya's request to join her older sister Moriya at the Q-school in 2012 because she was underage.
Ariya decided to join the Ladies European Tour where she took the gold medal in the Q-school in December 2012, while Moriya also got the LPGA Tour card after finishing a joint champion.
"At that time, she was about 17 and the LPGA could not grant her any preferential treatment, claiming that she did not have any remarkable performance or won any tournament," Somboon said.
LPGA players must be at least 18 years old, unless they get an exemption.
Ariya came close to proving the LPGA wrong in February 2013 when she received an invite to play at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
She held a two-shot lead on the final hole when she carded a triple bogey and handed the title to South Korea's Park In-Bee.
The implosion not only made her weep but a number of her fans left the venue teary-eyed.
She put the disappointment behind and went on to win her first professional title a few weeks later at the LET's Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.
After that, she received an exemption to play in a certain number of LPGA Tour events and had a commendable third-place finish at the Lotte Championship. This was followed by a joint third at the Kingsmill Championship and a joint fourth at Mobile Bay LPGA Classic.
Just when she started enjoying her form, which moved her up to 15th spot in the world rankings, Ariya suffered a shoulder injury during a practice session for the 2013 LPGA Championship in June, forcing her to undergo a surgery and delay her participation in the Q-school by a year.
In her first event after the surgery, she missed the cut at the 2014 Women's Australian Open and struggled the whole year. However, late that year, she finally earned an LPGA Tour card for the 2015 season, thanks her third-place finish in the final qualifying tournament.
Last season, she teed off her campaign impressively, sharing second spot at the Bahamas LPGA Classic and finishing third at the Women's Australian Open.
However, her campaign was derailed in the middle of last season when Ariya had a series of poor performances, missing the cut in 10 consecutive events before fighting back late in the season and claiming 63rd spot.
"I improved a bit late that year because I tried to focus on what I was doing at that time," Ariya said.
"Importantly, I knew what I was doing at that time."
Ariya failed to make the cut at the 2016 season opener, the Bahamas Classic, but still managed to turn the tide and transform it to be her year of success.
The 2013 Honda LPGA disappointment haunted her again at the 2016 ANA Inspiration in March. Ariya held a two-stroke advantage with three holes to play and she bogeyed all of them to settle for fourth.
Four weeks later, her first LPGA title came at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic in May as Ariya became the Thailand's first-ever LPGA Tour winner.
She went on to win the next two LPGA tournaments, the Kingsmill Championship and the Volvik Championship, and became the first player to win her first three titles in successive tournaments.
In August, she took her first major crown at the Women's British Open and added the fifth title to her cabinet with a victory at the Canadian Women's Open, the event she won a week after withdrawing through the third round of the Rio Olympic Games because of an injury.
Her win in Canada kicked up a social media storm as fans questioned whether Ariya was really injured to pull out of the Olympic Games or she just wanted to keep herself in good shape for the Canadian event?
In the last eight events, she had eight top-10 finishes to top the 2016 money list and take home the Race to the CME Globe title and the player of the year award.
Ariya also finished first in the rankings of top 10s (16), sub-par holes (475) and birdies (469).
She broke the single-season record of 451 birdies, set by Stacy Lewis in 2014.
The 21-year-old golfer is proud of herself and admits that her previous failures made her a better player.
"Last year, I missed like 10 cuts in a row. But I feel really appreciate it," she said.
"If this thing does not happen, I'm not going to win all this stuff this year.
"I am not really worry about in the past. Try to be focus on positive thing, not think about all like bad thing."
Ariya is now taking a break to recharge her batteries and prepare for the next season, aiming to become the world No.1 as soon as she can.
Somboon said it would not be easy for Ariya to topple New Zealand's Lydia Ko from the top spot or even to win more titles.
"After success this year, I am afraid that she would lose focus and that would make it hard for her to win any tournament," he said.
"Importantly, her management team must be very good at scheduling events so that she can make the best use of her potential.
"When Ariya plays in a relaxed manner, she can put on a great performance."
Ariya is consoled by her sister Moriya after her late collapse at the 2013 Honda LPGA Thailand. (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)