Thongchai Jaidee

Jaidee spent his childhood in a two-story wooden house that backed onto a golf course. He represented his home province in soccer and idolized Pele but was injured when a wooden skewer was embedded in his foot. During his recovery, Jaidee sneaked onto the Army Golf Club behind his home in Lop Buri, tied the discarded head of a 5-iron to a bamboo stick, and started playing golf. He joined the Royal Thai Army in 1989 at the age of 20, serving as a Ranger and a paratrooper. He became a golf professional when he was 30.
Represented Thailand at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
In 2006, he opened his own golf academy with over 20 youngsters under his wing, citing a desire to "give back to the game."
He has blazed a trail for golf in Thailand with numerous records to his name. In 2004, he made history as the first Thai golfer to win an event on the European Tour with a victory at the Malaysian Open, and he successfully defended the title in 2005. In 2009, he won the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open at the beginning of March and followed that with his fourth win at the Ballantine's Championship in Korea at the end of April. His first victory earned a personal audience with Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who gave him a diplomatic passport to expedite his ease of travel between countries on the European Tour.
He was also the first player to break the $2-million barrier in career earnings on the Asian Tour. Upon making his Masters debut in 2006, he became the first Thai to compete in all four majors. Has led the Asian Tour's Order of Merit in 2001, 2004, and 2009. Member of the 2015 Presidents Cup team.
In 2011, Jaidee ranked 10th in earnings with $266,246. Their best finish was 2nd at the Indonesian Masters. Since 1999, he has earned $4.46 million on the Asian Tour.
2012 Notes: Jaidee enhanced his global reputation by claiming his first title on European soil at the Wales Open. He posted four top-10s on the Asian Tour, including a third-place finish at the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia. He was ranked 15th on the European Tour Order of Merit with earnings of $252,282.
2013 Notes: A stellar season with runner-up finishes at the Volvo World Match Play Championship and BMW Masters helped to propel him to an impressive 9th place in the European Tour's 2013 Race to Dubai. Jaidee enjoyed similar success on the Asian Tour, where he notched six top-10s. The best finish was 4th at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters. He finished 11th on the Order of Merit with $280,298 in earnings.
2014 Notes: Chalked up another victory on the European Tour at the Nordea Masters, winning a playoff against Stephen Gallacher and Victor Dubuisson. Other top-10 finishes included T-5th at the Niaga Indonesian Masters and T-6th at the WGC-Cadillac. Participated in 25 European Tour events with seven top-10s and finished 22nd in the Race to Dubai. He went 1-1-1 in his three Presidents Cup matches.
2015 Notes: Won the Porsche European Open, his seventh title on the European Tour. Finished runner-up at the True Thailand Classic, one shot behind winner Andrew Dodt. I also finished T-2nd at the BMW PGA Championship and the following week T-10th at the Irish Open. In the Final Series playoffs, they finished T-3rd at the BMW Masters and 10th in the Race to Dubai.
2016 Notes: Played 26 European Tour events making 19 cuts and 2 top-tens. He won the French Open by 4 shots over Francesco Molinari, his 8th European Tour win. Also was T-9th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. He was 24th in the Race to Dubai with euros1,375,199 in earnings. On the Asian Tour, his best finish was T-2nd at the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship, T-8th at the BNI Indonesian Masters, and T-9th at the Shinhan Donghae Open.
2017 Notes: Started the year with a T-6th at the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship and a T-8th at the Shenzhen International. On the European Tour, he played in 22 events making 12 cuts with two top-ten finishes. He was 90th in the Race to Dubai with earnings of euro4126,037. The best finish was T-8th at the Shenzhen International
2018 Notes: Played in 22 European Tour events, making ten cuts with one top-ten finish. It was 120th on the Race to Dubai race with earnings of euro262,010. His best finish was T-8th at the BMW PGA Championship.
2019 Notes: Played in 18 European Tour events, making ten cuts with one top-ten finish. It was 135th on the Race to Dubai race with earnings of euro231,173. His best finish was T-9th at the Trophee Hassan II. At the end of the year, when he turned 50, he came over to PGA Tour Champions Q-School. He won the first stage and then finished 2nd in the final stage to gain his Senior card for 2020.
2020/2021 Notes: Played in 12 PGA Tour Champions events with two top-tens and finished 64th in the Charles Schwab Cup. Because of the pandemic, traveling from Thailand was limited. He played in just two PGA Tour Champions events in 2020; he best was T-29th at the 2020 Cologuard Classic. In 2021 was T-5th at the SAS Championship, two shots back of the Lee Janzen/Miguel Angel Jimenez playoff. He was T-8th at the Dominion Energy Classic. He had to play in the PGA Tour Champions Qualifying Tournament and finished T-2nd, regaining his card for 2022. He played once in Europe in the 2020 Abu Dhabi Championship, missing the cut. He was T-9th at the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship and T-2nd at the Singha Thailand Masters, four shots back of winner Ratchapol Jantavara.
2022 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour Champions events with 11 top-ten finishes. It was 7th in the Schwab rankings and 7th on the money list with earnings of $1,636,203. He was T-9th at the Cologuard Classic and T-10th at the Principal Charity Classic. Won the American Family Insurance Championship by one shot over Tom Pernice Jr. It was his first win on PGA Tour Champions (in his 19th start), and he became the first player from Thailand to win on the Tour. He snapped a winless streak of 5 years, 11 months, 9 days (or 2,170 days) in an official individual tournament, dating back to the 2016 Open de France (DP World Tour. Two weeks after earning his first win on PGA Tour Champions, he finished T-4th at the U.S. Senior Open after carding 70-69-72-70. At the Senior Open Championship in Gleneagles, Scotland finished T-3rd, just two shots back of winner Darren Clarke. After finishing T-8th at the Boeing Classic, the next week was T-2nd at Dick's Sporting Goods Open, three shots back of winner Padraig Harrington, shooting a final round 66, matching the day's low round. He was T-7th at the Sandford International and 10th at the Pure Insurance Championship. At the Constellation, Furyk & Friends shot an opening round 72 and registered a 65-69 on the weekend to finish T-4th for shots back of winner Steve Stricker. He was T-2nd at the TimberTech Championship, six shots back of winner Bernhard Langer. It was his 11th top-ten finish and 4th top-three finish of the year. He finished his season T-12th at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
2023 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour Champions events with 5 top-ten finishes. It was 16th in the Schwab rankings and 23rd on the money list with earnings of $1,250,999. A year removed from finishing T-2nd in his first start at the DICK?S Sporting Goods Open, used three rounds in the 60s, 69-66-67, to finish T-5th at En-Joie Golf Club at 14-under 202. The finish marked his first top-10 finish in his 12th start of the season. Beginning the final round of the Shaw Charity Classic seven shots off the lead at 5-under 135, he birdied four of his first five holes in the final round and nine total to close with his PGA Tour Champions career-low of 8-under 62 to finish T-2nd a shot back of winner Ken Duke. He got his second career win at the Pure Insurance Championship with a par on the fourth extra hole. Opened with 67 before posting back-to-back 70s to finish T-5th, six shots back of winner Rod Pampling at the SAS Championship. Was T-4th at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, four shots back of winner Steven Alker.
2024 Notes: In the opening round of the Hoag Classic, he shot his career-low round of 62 and went on to finish second, a shot back of winner Padraig Harrington, who finished the final round birdie-birdie. Was T-4th at the Insperity Invitational, two shots back of winner Scott Dunlap.