Tag: Thongchai Jaidee

Padraig Harrington survives two final-round double bogeys to win Hoag Classic Newport Beach

Harrington is now 3-for-3 in closing out 36-hole leads on the Champions tour.

Padraig Harrington was looking to go 3-for-3 in closing out 36-hole leads on the PGA Tour Champions on Sunday at the Hoag Classic Newport Beach.

He started the final round at 12 under, a shot ahead of Thongchai Jaidee, who shot a 62 on Friday. Harrington ran into a big trouble twice but rebounded both times.

Harrington’s first trip-up was a double-bogey on the par-3 fourth hole which was playing 140 yards Sunday. He had a second double bogey on the par-4 16th hole, and that one proved more costly as it dropped him to 12 under and out of the lead a shot back of Jaidee and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

On the 191-yard, par-3 17th, however, Harrington hit his ball pin high and then drained the putt for a bounce-back birdie to tie for the lead once again. On 18, Harrington curled one around seemlingly all sides of the cup before it dropped for a closing birdie, setting off an extended fist pump from the Irishman.

Harrington closed with a 2-under 69 to win for the seventh time in 37 starts on the senior circuit. Jaidee was solo second a shot back. Jimenez was solo third, two shots back. Stephen Ames was solo fourth at 10 under.

Defending tournament champion Ernie Els was tied for 33rd. Jim Furyk made his 2024 season debut after recovering from a back injury and also tied for 33rd. Fred Couples withdrew after nine holes during the second round.

The tour stays in southern California for the Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage.

Thongchai Jaidee outlasts Justin Leonard in a playoff to win Pure Insurance Championship

Thongchai Jaidee needed four playoff holes to do it, but he finally outlasted Justin Leonard at Pebble Beach.

Thongchai Jaidee needed four playoff holes to do it but on a sunsplashed day at Pebble Beach Golf Links, he finally outlasted Justin Leonard to win the 2023 Pure Insurance Championship.

Jaidee had a chance to win in regulation but couldn’t drain his birdie putt on the par-5 closing hole. The duo parred then birdied the 18th in overtime before they each parred the par-3 17th. Back to the 18th tee they went for the fourth time Sunday but par was enough this time around for Jaidee after Leonard launched his tee shot left over the retaining wall. A four-man search party of the two golfers and their caddies couldn’t locate it, so Leonard reteed, then hit his second into a greenside bunker before walking off the green with a seven.

Last season, Jaidee became the first Thai golfer to win on the Champions tour. The 2015 Presidents Cupper now has his second win on the circuit. He does have 19 international wins on his resume but never did win on the PGA Tour.

As for Leonard, he came out of the TV booth to return to competition last year, playing four times on the PGA Tour Champions after turning 50. On Sunday, in his 14th event of this season and with his suitcases presumably packed for his pending return to broadcasting later this week for NBC Sports at the Ryder Cup, Leonard fell just short of his first professional win since 2008. Leonard, the 1999 Ryder Cup hero for the Americans, will be an analyst in the booth with Terry Gannon in Rome.

Padraig Harrington wins PGA Tour Champions Dick’s Sporting Goods Open by three shots over Thongchai Jaidee, Mike Weir

Padraig Harrington took care of business to win for the second time on the Champions circuit.

ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Padraig Harrington took care of business in blemish-free fashion Sunday in the 2022 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.

The PGA Tour Champions newcomer, 50, made five birdies in a round of 67 at En-Joie Golf Course to finish 16-under for a three-shot victory over Thongchai Jaidee (66) and 36-hole leader Mike Weir (71).

The sky above En-Joie scowled most of the afternoon, but upon completion of a garden-variety two-putt at the last, Irish eyes twinkled as the 50-year-old from Dublin rang up his second victory of the season to go with the U.S. Senior Open.

Sunday brought Harrington a sixth top-3 finish in his most recent eight PGA Tour Champions starts.

With playing competitor Weir stuck mostly in neutral, Harrington made three front-side birdies and another couple at 11 and 12.

Harrington’s three-stroke margin of victory is the largest on the PGA Tour Champions since Steven Alker won the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship by three in May. Harrington becomes the fourth multiple winner on tour this season, joining three-time champions Steven Alker, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jerry Kelly.

Jaidee shot 66. It was his seventh top-10 of the season for the 52-year-old from Thailand and winner of the mid-June American Family Insurance Championship. In fact, Sunday brought the fifth top-8 in his most recent seven starts. He played the front side in 4 under and his lone deviation from par on the back came via a pitch-in for eagle 2 at the 16th.

“I played great today. I start very well, started make birdie on first hole, second hole we have three-putt. I think the key for me, I putting well and the golf course is very good shape,” he said. “I love the golf course, the greens are fantastic. I not miss anything, good up-and-down a couple holes, that’s why the key make me a lot confident.”

Jim Furyk shared fourth with Vijay Singh on the strength of a closing 68, marking a sound return from an extended stint away from competition triggered by COVID-19.

“You know, I’m still not _ I still don’t have a ton of energy,” he said. “I actually rode this week, first time I’ve ever done it, but I feel pretty good. Happy with the way I played. I think it’s my best finish of the season so far, so to kind of have that much time off and then come back and play that well is a lot of fun.

“There’s still some things I want to work on in my game, but excited to play well here at Dick’s and I love the course at Warwick Hills next week at Ally, so excited to kind of get there and hopefully carry some of this momentum into next week.”

Furyk’s most recent start before the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open came in the late-June U.S. Senior Open (T-25).

Bernhard Langer, 2014 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open champion and soon to turn 65, took a share of sixth following a bogey-free round of 68 that featured an eagle 3 at the 12th.

John Daly, playing a course on which he won in 1992 (B.C. Open, forerunner to the senior event) played his final 36 in 7-under and finished T-24, his third best finish this season.

Defending champion Cameron Beckman finished T68 (2-over 218).

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Thongchai Jaidee, once a paratrooper in Thailand, is now a PGA Tour Champions winner

Thongchai Jaidee won the 2022 American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wisconsin.

MADISON, Wisc. — The leaderboard was crowded throughout the final round Sunday during the PGA Tour Champions’ American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge. At one point, nine golfers were tied for first.

Thongchai Jaidee, a former paratrooper in the Royal Thai Army, calmly waited for his opportunity and then pounced to the claim the title.

Jaidee took sole possession of the lead with a birdie putt from around 20 feet on No. 17. He then made par on the 18th hole to become the first player from Thailand to win on the senior circuit.

He won with a 14-under 202 total after shooting a 68 on Sunday.

“I’m very, very happy to be on tour the more important thing I think. I think thank you to my caddie, the important more thing, too, because he helped me a lot. It’s family support, my sponsor support me for whole life, that’s more important things,” Jaidee said after his round. “Great tournament here. I played solid, solid, solid week.”

Much to the delight of local fans, Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker vaulted themselves into contention on the final day with strong play.

Kelly had three birdies on his front nine and was tied for the lead, but he couldn’t pull off his third straight victory in the event.

Kelly carded a 5-under 67 and finished two shots behind Jaidee, but he lamented missing three birdie putts on Nos. 16-18.

“I struck it well,” Kelly said. “I putted well; they just didn’t go in this time. I gave myself some good looks.

“I come into this week every year thinking, yeah, this is going to be my year, I want to knock this one off, and then I always end up here trying to rally at the very end,” Stricker said. “I’ve got to get off to better starts.”

Stricker will get a week to rest before the U.S. Senior Open Championship at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It’s been an eventful year for Stricker with a Ryder Cup victory, a mysterious illness and then a golf comeback that included a major victory in the Regions Tradition in May.

“I’ve got a different perspective on life and all sorts of different things now,” Stricker said. “I still have some battles to kind of get over. I’ve still got to get stronger and continue to work on that part of it.

“I’m just thankful to be able to do this, to be able to continue to play, something that I really love to do. And yeah, so it’s come a long ways and the ups and the downs in these last six months were something else, but I’m glad where I’m at now.”

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