Thongchai Jaidee

Thongchai Jaidee ธงชัย ใจดี
Personal information
Full name	Thongchai Jaidee
Born	8 November 1969 (1969-11-08) Lop Buri, Thailand
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Nationality	Thailand
Residence	Lop Buri, Thailand
Career
Turned professional	1999
Current tour(s)	European Tour Asian Tour
Professional wins	15
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	4
Asian Tour	13 (1st all time)
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament	CUT: 2006
U.S. Open	T47: 2010
The Open Championship	T13: 2009
PGA Championship	T36: 2009
Achievements and awards
Asian Tour Order of Merit	2001, 2004, 2009

Thongchai Jaidee (Thai ธงชัย ใจดี, born 8 November 1969) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour and the European Tour. He holds the record for most career victories and most career earnings on the Asian Tour.

Thongchai did not play golf until he was sixteen, and he later went into the Royal Thai Army. He didn't turn professional until he was around 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. 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 it co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour. In 2005 he successfully defended his title. 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.

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 19th in 2009. He topped the Asian Tour order of merit for a third time in 2009.

Thongchai was the first man to win US$2 and US$3 million on the Asian Tour.

He was once a paratrooper in the Thai army.

Amateur wins (5)

• 1995 Pakistan Amateur Open Championship
• 1997 Putra Cup
• 1998 Putra Cup, Singapore Amateur Open Championship, Thailand Amateur Open Championship

Professional wins (15)

European Tour wins (4)

(all co-sanctioned with Asian Tour)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	22 Feb 2004	Carlsberg Malaysian Open	-14 (71-71-64-68=274)	2 strokes	Brad Kennedy
2	20 Feb 2005	Carlsberg Malaysian Open	-21 (64-66-67-70=267)	3 strokes	Jyoti Randhawa
3	1 Mar 2009	Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open	-12 (71-69-67-69=276)	2 strokes	Simon Dyson, Alexander Norén, Steve Webster
4	26 Apr 2009	Ballantine's Championship	-4 (66-71-77-70=284)	Playoff	Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Kang Sung-hoon

Asian Tour wins (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	8 Oct 2000	Kolon Cup Korean Open	-10 (70-69-69-70=278)	1 stroke	Craig Kamps
2	18 Mar 2001	Wills Indian Open	-17 (67-69-69-66=271)	1 stroke	Ross Bain
3	10 Feb 2002	London Myanmar Open	-11 (69-70-69-69=277)	Playoff	Edward Loar
4	14 Dec 2003	Volvo Masters of Asia	-19 (71-64-65-65=265)	1 stroke	Lin Keng-chi
5	15 Feb 2004	Myanmar Open	-12 (69-72-66-69=276)	3 strokes	Andrew Pitts
6	22 Feb 2004	Carlsberg Malaysian Open (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)	-14 (71-71-64-68=274)	2 strokes	Brad Kennedy
7	20 Feb 2005	Carlsberg Malaysian Open (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)	-21 (64-66-67-70=267)	3 strokes	Jyoti Randhawa
8	17 Dec 2006	Volvo Masters of Asia	-11 (68-68-69-72=277)	1 stroke	Frankie Miñoza
9	7 Dec 2008	Hana Bank Vietnam Masters	-15 (67-69-70-67=273)	Playoff	Rhys Davies, Andrew Dodt
10	14 Dec 2008	Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open	-24 (68-66-64-66=264)	6 strokes	Lam Chih Bing
11	1 Mar 2009	Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)	-12 (71-69-67-69=276)	2 strokes	Simon Dyson, Alexander Norén, Steve Webster
12	26 Apr 2009	Ballantine's Championship (co-sanctioned with the European Tour)	-4 (66-71-77-70=280)	Playoff	Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Kang Sung-hoon
13	12 Dec 2010	Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open	-21 (70-67-65-65=267)	4 strokes	Kenichi Kuboya

Other wins (2)

• 2000 Singha Bangkok Open (Thailand)
• 2001 Singha Bangkok Open (Thailand)

Results in major championships

Tournament	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T74	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	WD	DNP	DNP	T52	DNP	DNP	DNP	T13
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	CUT	DNP	CUT	DNP	T36

Tournament	2010	2011
The Masters	WD	DNP
U.S. Open	T47	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	CUT
PGA Championship	CUT	DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = Withdrew
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Accenture Match Play Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Cadillac Championship	T57	T66	T41	60	T9	T23	DNP
Bridgestone Invitational	DNP	DNP	T32	T58	DNP	T46	DNP

Tournament	2009	2010	2011
Accenture Match Play Championship	DNP	QF	DNP
Cadillac Championship	DNP	T56	DNP
Bridgestone Invitational	T60	DNP	DNP
HSBC Champions	T19	DNP	T29

DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

• World Cup (representing Thailand): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
• Royal Trophy (representing Asia): 2006, 2007, 2009 (winners), 2010, 2011
• Dynasty Cup (representing Asia): 2003 (winners), 2005 (winners)

See also

• Golfers with most Asian Tour wins

External links

• Thongchai Jaidee at the Asian Tour official site
• Thongchai Jaidee at the European Tour official site
• Thongchai Jaidee at the Official World Golf Ranking official site