TROON, SCOTLAND — Thai veteran star Thongchai Jaidee ended his campaign at The Open with a level par 71 and a top-30 finish on Sunday but vowed to keep coming back in his attempt to win the oldest tournament in the world.
The triple Asian Tour number one shot three birdies against as many bogeys at Royal Troon for a tournament aggregate of one-over-par 285 and failed to improve on his best Open outing of tied 13th achieved in 2009.
Following a fourth title in Europe when he won the French Open two weeks ago, Thongchai was hoping to feature on the leaderboard this week but lamented poor putting for his lack of birdies.
“It’s very nice to be here, especially walking up the 18th hole today,” said Thongchai, who holds 13 wins on the Asian Tour.
“I played very well this week but struggled with the putting. Hit the irons fantastic. Today was a good day to score but I didn’t hole too many putts.”
He was two-under through 10 holes to put himself in position for a top-10 finish but dropped shots on 12 and 17.
“I lost some confidence with my putting. Back nine, I could have easily been even par but I hit some bad putts. On 16, I hit it to the front of the green but didn’t take advantage and then I missed another putt on 17 for bogey. You need to have good putts. You look at Phil (Mickelson), he’s holed a lot of putts this week,” said the 46-year-old.
“Finishing top-30 is a pretty good result for me. We’ll try every year to win this tournament. I lost confidence with my putting this week and last week. It can be tough to putt sometimes on links courses under these conditions.”
He will head home for a week’s rest before flying to Baltusrol for the PGA Championship, the year’s final Major, in two weeks’ time and then to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics when golf makes a return after a lapse of 112 years.
“I’m looking forward to the PGA Championship and Olympics now. It’s a dream to be in the Olympics. It’s very important to get ready for that,” he said.
India’s Anirban Lahiri signed off from The Open with a 79 to conclude a disappointing campaign. The reigning Asian Tour number one dropped six bogeys and one double bogey for a four-day total of 296. It was also his highest score in The Open in four appearances.
Lamenting poor putting after the third round, the 29-year-old Lahiri did not make a single birdie in his final round which he played alongside former Masters winner Bubba Watson.
Korea’s Soomin Lee, who is fifth on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, shot an 82 as his Major debut also ended on a challenging note. He totaled 302 but vowed to fight his way back into The Open despite the challenging conditions at the famous Scottish links this week.
Asian Tour member Scott Hend of Australia, who is a nine-time winner on the Asian Tour, closed out with a 76 for a 297 total while Korea’s K.T. Kim shot a 73 for a 291 total.
