| Thongchai Jaidee ธงชัย ใจดี | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Thongchai Jaidee |
| Born | 8 November 1969 Lopburi, Thailand |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 63 kg (139 lb; 9.9 st) |
| Nationality |  |
| Residence | Lopburi, Thailand |
| Spouse | Namfon Latkrathok (m. 1998) |
| Children | Titituch, Kittituch |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1999 |
| Current tour(s) | European Tour Asian Tour |
| Professional wins | 20 |
| Highest ranking | 27 (3 January 2016) [1] (as of 13 October 2019) |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| European Tour | 8 |
| Asian Tour | 13 (2nd all time) |
| Other | 3 |
| Best results in major championships | |
| Masters Tournament | T37: 2014 |
| PGA Championship | T36: 2009 |
| U.S. Open | T47: 2010 |
| The Open Championship | T13: 2009 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| Asian Tour Order of Merit | 2001, 2004, 2009 |
Thongchai Jaidee (Thai : ธงชัย ใจดี; RTGS: Thongchai Chaidi, born 8 November 1969) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour and the European Tour. On the Asian Tour, he holds the record for the most career earnings and is second in victories having won 13 times. He has won the Order of Merit on the Asian Tour three times during his career. Jaidee was the first man to win US$2 million, US$3 million, US$4 million, and US$5 million on the Asian Tour in prize money.
Thai, Central Thai, is the sole official and national language of Thailand and the first language of the Central Thai people. It is a member of the Tai group of the Kra–Dai language family. Over half of Thai vocabulary is derived from or borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Mon and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language, similar to Chinese and Vietnamese.
The Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS) is the official system for rendering Thai words in the Latin alphabet. It was published by the Royal Institute of Thailand.
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Southeast Asian Indochinese peninsula composed of 76 provinces. At 513,120 km2 (198,120 sq mi) and over 68 million people, Thailand is the world's 50th-largest country by total area and the 21st-most-populous country. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, a special administrative area. Thailand is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. It is a unitary state. Although nominally the country is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, the most recent coup, in 2014, established a de facto military dictatorship under a junta.
Contents
- Amateur wins (5)
- Professional wins (20)
- European Tour wins (8)
- Asian Tour wins (13)
- Other wins (3)
- Results in major championships
- Summary
- Results in World Golf Championships
- Team appearances
- See also
- References
- External links
Jaidee did not start playing golf until he was sixteen, and he later went into the Royal Thai Army where he was a paratrooper in special forces. Jaidee did not turn professional until he was thirty years old, but he soon achieved success on the Asian Tour, topping the tour's order of merit in 2001 and 2004. He first played in a major championship in the 2001 U.S. Open and finished tied 74th. [2] In February 2004 he became the first Thai to win a tournament on the European Tour by winning the Carlsberg Malaysian Open, an event which was co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour. In 2005 he successfully defended his Malaysian Open title.
The Royal Thai Army or RTA is the army of Thailand responsible for protecting its sovereignty and national interests. It is the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the major championships, often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf. In order of play date as of 2019, they are:
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open national championship of golf in the United States. It is the third of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Since 1898 the competition has been 72 holes of stroke play, with the winner being the player with the lowest total number of strokes. It is staged by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in mid-June, scheduled so that, if there are no weather delays, the final round is played on the third Sunday. The U.S. Open is staged at a variety of courses, set up in such a way that scoring is very difficult, with a premium placed on accurate driving. As of 2019 the U.S. Open awards a $12.5 million purse, the largest of all 4 major championships and tied for largest of all PGA Tour events.
In 2006 he received a special invitation to play in the Masters Tournament. He was the second Thai to play in the Masters after Sukree Onsham, who did so in 1970 and 1971, and by doing so, he became the first Thai to play in all four major championships.
The Masters Tournament is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first major of the year, and unlike the others, it is always held at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private course in the southeastern United States, in the city of Augusta, Georgia.
Sukree Onsham is a professional golfer from Thailand. He was the most successful Thai golfer of his era. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for being the first man from Thailand to play in the Masters Tournament.
After his victory in the Volvo Masters of Asia in 2006 he reached 75 in the Official World Golf Rankings. His best year-end ranking on the European Order of Merit has been 9th in 2013. He topped the Asian Tour order of merit for a third time in 2009.
The Volvo Masters of Asia was the final event of the season on golf's Asian Tour until 2008.
Jaidee won for the fifth time on the European Tour in June 2012 at the ISPS Handa Wales Open. This was the first occasion that Jaidee had won on the European Tour outside Asia. He shot a final round one over 72, but won by a single stroke from four other players. [3]
Jaidee qualified for the 2015 Presidents Cup squad for the first time and in doing so became the first player from Thailand to earn the honor.
The 2015 Presidents Cup was the 11th Presidents Cup, played at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, South Korea from 8–11 October. It was the first time the Presidents Cup was played in Asia.
In September 2015, Jaidee won his seventh European Tour title at the Porsche European Open in Germany by a single stroke over Englishman Graeme Storm. Jaidee held the 54 hole lead by a stroke and shot a 67 in the final round to claim victory.
Jaidee claimed his eighth European Tour victory in July 2016, with a four stroke victory at the Open de France. He shot weekend rounds of 68-68, which included a run of 39 holes without a bogey and moved him clear of the chasing pack. Jaidee became the oldest winner of the tournament, at the age of 46, since it became part of the European Tour in 1972.
