Thongchai vows to return stronger at The Open

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee is confident he will be back to contend at The Open after he ended his Major campaign with a one-over-par 73 on Monday.

As the only player to win three Asian Tour Order of Merit titles, the Thai veteran was hoping to surmount a late challenge after carding previous rounds of 72, 71 and 70 at the Old Course in St Andrews.

However, a bogey-five on the second hole slowed his charge as he tried to get onto the comeback trail.

The Black Mountain player recovered momentarily with two successive birdies on nine and 10 but a pair of bogeys on 15 and 16 put paid to any hopes of moving further ahead on the leaderboard.

“I felt like I’ve played well all week. But the pin positions were difficult and I couldn’t hole a lot of putts.

“The putting was not up to mark this week and three-putted on many occasions like what I did on those three holes today,” said Thongchai, who compiled a four-day total of two-under-par 286.

Citing fatigue, the 13-time Asian Tour winner will be looking for a quick rest before he tees up again in Switzerland this week.

“This is the fifth tournament that I’ve played in a row. I usually plan my schedule in such a way that I only play up to four tournament maximum.

“But because this is a Major, I did not want to skip. I also want to show my commitment towards the Asian Tour and European Tour for the event in Switzerland,” said Thongchai.

While he could not better his best Open result of a tied-13 finish at Turnberry in 2009, the Thai is looking forward to fight again another day at The Open.

“No problem. I’ll try again,” said Thongchai.