Thongchai Jaidee defends Nordea

Edited by Anand Datla

June 03, 2015: Thongchai Jaidee hopes the memories of last year’s brilliant victory in the Nordea Masters will spur him on to a first win of the season when he returns to Sweden this week.

The 45 year old Thai star saved his best for last at PGA Sweden National 12 months ago, carding a seven under par 65 in the final round to tie with Victor Dubuisson and Stephen Gallacher in top spot, then beating the Ryder Cup players with a birdie at the first hole of the play-off.

This year Jaidee has shown glimpses of his imperious best to record four top ten finishes, including tied second in the BMW PGA Championship a fortnight ago and the same position on home soil in the True Thailand Classic presented by Black Mountain in February.

But despite reaching sixth place in The Race to Dubai, victory has so far eluded him – something he hopes to put right in Malmö.

“It’s great to be back and hopefully I can have another good week here,” said the six-time European Tour winner. “I’m very happy with the way I’ve been playing this season and I’ve come close a couple of times, so I just need to get over the line. Hopefully the good feelings from last year will help that. I’m just going to try to enjoy it.

“I’m very glad to be back as defending champion and already it has brought back a lot of good memories. Last year the course was fantastic and I’m sure it will be the same again this week.”

“I have a lot of friends here in Sweden. My sponsors are here – they are Swedish and own Black Mountain Golf Club in Thailand – so it’s nice to see them and catch up with many people I know.”

Jaidee produced another strong performance last week at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation, finishing tied tenth, and the cold, windy conditions at Royal County Down will have been ideal preparation for his title defence in Sweden, at least in the first couple of rounds.

“It’s very windy and chilly today so it feels very similar to last week in Northern Ireland, but it’s supposed to be calmer by the weekend,” he added. “I don’t mind it, though – it’s good experience for me to play in tricky conditions. I enjoyed it last week and finished well, and that will give me confidence to play well here.”

A strong field has assembled for the Nordea Masters, which has been on The European Tour International Schedule every year since 1991, including World Number Four Henrik Stenson, his fellow Swedes Jonas Blixt and Alex Noren, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez and Ryder Cup players Thomas Bjørn and Gallacher.

Two-time former champion Mikko Ilonen is also in the line-up at the links-style PGA Sweden National, where crowds of more than 30,000 were present last year to watch Jaidee’s triumph.

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Source: European Tour Website