Thongchai Jaidee starts well at the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions
The current Asian Tour number one Thongchai Jaidee carded a two-under par 70 on day one of the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions, to share the 19th position on the leaderboard, on Thursday, November 1, 2012.
HSBC Champions is the last of the four WGCs of the season, and is being held at the prestigious Mission Hills Golf Club’s Olazabal Course.
The US$7 million tournament, co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, Asian Tour and the European Tour, is featuring a total of 78 players from different parts of the world.
Jaidee has not won on the Asian Tour since his victory in the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open in 2010.
Earlier this season, he recorded a victory in the European Tour’s ISPS Handa Wales Open by defeating Thomas Bjørn, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Joost Luiten and Richard Sterne with a one-stroke margin.
This week, he wishes to end his winless streak on the Asian Tour by winning the HSBC Champions in Guangdong.
Started off on the 10th hole, he bogeyed the 11th hole and marked a poor start to his campaign in China. He then tried to make a comeback by recording birdies on the 15th and the 18th hole.
However, he once again lost control over his game and suffered another two bogeys in a row on the first two holes of the front nine.
Thereafter, he picked up some pace and added another three shots to his scorecard, to end his round on a high note.
At the end of the day, he found himself settled five strokes behind the leaders, Louis Oosthuizen and Adam Scott, who led the way with sparkling 65s.
“I played solid. Two holes I had three putts but happy with two under,” he said. “Conditions were tough as greens are firm. Also had mud balls on most holes. Can’t control your pitching wedge or long irons. It was tough on the back nine as the fairways are
a bit soft. Sometimes, I had some bad holes”.
He added, “Hit it quite well and missed a few short putts. On one, putted past the pin which was front right and the ball just turned a lot. If you miss it by one yard, it’ll be off the green. It was a tough pin”.
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