At 48, Thailand’s Golf veteran Thongchai Jaidee refuses to slow down. Jaidee is all set to create a new milestone as he will feature in his 200th Asian Tour event at his favourite hunting ground when the US$3 million Maybank Championship starts on Thursday.

 

 

 

                        The Thai veteran will look forward to create more memories at the Saujana Golf and Country Club

 

 

The Thai veteran will look forward to create more memories at the Saujana Golf and Country Club, the venue where he won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005 which subsequently launched his career.

 

 

“It feels great to play in my 200th Asian Tour event this week. I never count how many events I play so to find out about this is simply amazing. I feel very good especially when it is at Saujana and in Malaysia,” he said.

 

 

“I come to Malaysia every year and this golf course and the country feels like my ‘home’. I’ve won here twice but the Golf Course has changed now. The course is now playing longer but the most important thing to do is to keep the ball in play,” he shared.

 

 

“Golf is my life and I love to play golf. I turned professional late but when I look back at my career, it looks great. The young boys in Golf now are so good. They have proper training and equipment. That has made them so successful so early in their career,” he said.

 

 

 

                            Jaidee is the only player to win three Asian Tour Order of Merit crowns

 

 

At the age of 48, Thongchai admits that he is preparing for the Seniors Tour where he is eligible to play on at the age of 50.

 

He is still committed and passionate about the game but will juggle between playing professionally and overseeing the Thongchai Jaidee Foundation. He also has plans to build an international school in his home town in Lopburi.

 

A return to Malaysia, a country which he calls ‘home’, always brings out the best in Thongchai. He will contend for the prestigious title against a stellar line-up which includes an in-form Li Hao-tong of China, Major champion Henrik Stenson and popular Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

 

 

4 interesting things about Jaidee 

 

• Thongchai Jaidee is the only player to win three Asian Tour Order of Merit crowns. He has also won 13 Tour titles and four events on European soil.
• His victory at the 2004 Malaysian Open was his first European Tour win. He successfully defended the title in the following year and since then, he has become one of the most popular golfers among Malaysian fans.
• Thongchai enjoyed a solid outing at the Maybank Championship last year where he shared 12th position. It was one of his best results in a disappointing 2017 season where he finished inside the top-10 twice.
• Thongchai also hosts his own golf event, the Thongchai Jaidee Foundation, on the Asian Development Tour (ADT).