{"id":48170,"date":"2022-06-13T04:02:58","date_gmt":"2022-06-13T04:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/thongchai-jaidee-prevails-in-wisconsin-to-become-the-first-thai-winner-on-the-champions-tour\/"},"modified":"2022-06-13T04:02:58","modified_gmt":"2022-06-13T04:02:58","slug":"thongchai-jaidee-prevails-in-wisconsin-to-become-the-first-thai-winner-on-the-champions-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/thongchai-jaidee-prevails-in-wisconsin-to-become-the-first-thai-winner-on-the-champions-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Thongchai Jaidee prevails in Wisconsin to become the first Thai winner on the Champions Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"
MADISON, Wis. – Thongchai Jaidee became the first Thai winner in PGA Tour Champions history Sunday, closing with a 4-under 68 for a 1-stroke victory in the American Family Insurance Championship.<\/p>\n
A week after playing his way into the event with a 10th-place finish in Iowa, the 52-year-old Thongchai won in his 19th start on the 50-and-over tour.<\/p>\n
“Very big thing for me,” Thongchai said. “The game has changed. Now I’m very, very happy to be on tour.”<\/p>\n
Thongchai rebounded from a bogey on the par-5 16th with a birdie on the par-3 17th and closed with a par. He finished at 14-under 202 at University Ridge.<\/p>\n
“Great tournament here,” Thongchai said. “I played solid, solid, solid. I took one mistake on 16, hit the tree and lost the ball. We make good bogey and try to get my plan. Holed a good putt on 17 and the game changed. I think my confidence in the putting, that’s why helped me a lot for this week. “<\/p>\n
Tom Pernice Jr. was second after a 66.<\/p>\n
“I’m happy for Thongchai,” Pernice said. “He had a little bad break there on 16 to hit the trees and lose the ball, so to battle back and make a bogey and then to birdie 17, he deserves to win.”<\/p>\n
Miguel Angel Jimenez, who was tied for the second-round lead with Thongchai, had a 70 to tie for third at 12 under with hometown favorite Jerry Kelly (67), Marco Dawson (67) and Kirk Triplett (68).<\/p>\n
“Nothing worked on the greens today,” Jimenez said.<\/p>\n
Kelly, the winner last week in Iowa in a playoff, was trying to win the event – hosted by Madison friend Steve Stricker – for the third straight time. He won in 2019 and 2021, while the 2020 event was canceled because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Stricker closed with a 67 to tie for 11th at 9 under.<\/p>\n
“Fun to watch,” Stricker said. “What another great week. The sun decided to show up at the very end – better late than never, I guess. Another wonderful week here. Tremendous crowd support, sponsor support and player support. We had it all again.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MADISON, Wis. – Thongchai Jaidee became the first Thai winner in PGA Tour Champions history Sunday, closing with a 4-under 68 for a 1-stroke victory in the American Family Insurance Championship. A week after playing his way into the event with a 10th-place finish in Iowa, the 52-year-old Thongchai won in his 19th start on …<\/p>\n