Jaidee weathers Storm in Germany

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee held off a strong challenge from Graeme Storm to capture his seventh European Tour title by one shot in the Porsche European Open at Golf Resort Bad Griesbach.

With Storm in the clubhouse on 16 under par after a round of 67, the Englishman having holed a 12ft par putt on the tricky closing hole, the pressure was on Jaidee, whose one shot advantage looked slender when his approach hit the greenside hospitality unit and he required a protracted ruling with his ball lying  between re-laid turf.

Unperturbed by the untimely incident, the calm 45 year old chipped up to eight feet and holed the putt for par, sealing a bogey-free round of 67 and winning total of 17 under par 267 over the par-71 track to claim the prestigious title, which returned as part of The Race to Dubai for the first time since 2009.

Jaidee is only the second Asian player to win the European Open title, following Japan’s Isao Aoki, who won the title at Suningdale Golf Club in 1983. 

It was his third victory on European soil following the 2012 ISPS Handa Wales Open and the 2014 Nordea Masters in Wales.

Storm had to settle for finishing runner up for the second time in the European Open, ten years after claiming the same position behind his close friend Kennie Ferrie at The K Club. The Englishman, who lost in a play-off to David Lipksy in last year’s Omega European Masters, has the consolation of securing his European Tour card for next season, and after moving up to 66th position on the Race to Dubai, he has now set his sights on a place in November’s DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.  

Sweden’s Pelle Edberg finished third on 14 under par after a round of 69 with Australia’s Scott Hend a further shot back in fourth after a 65. Another Swede, Rikard Karlberg, followed his maiden victory at last week’s 72° OPEN D'ITALIA presented by DAMIANI by closing with a round of 67 to share fifth place with Dane Lucas Bjerregaard (68) and Welshman Jamie Donaldson (70) on 12 under par.

Bernhard Langer, the two-time Masters Champion, finished as the leading German on eight under par. The 58 year old closed with a round of 69 for a share of 24th place at the course he co-designed.
Key player quotes

Thongchai Jaidee – 67 (-17 total)

“It’s a very special week for me. It is the third time I have won outside of Asia, so I’m very excited about that and I’m happy to win this tournament. I’m feeling very confident at the moment. I didn’t make many mistakes this week – only one bogey all week. I played very nicely and 17 under is some score for me.

I liked the golf course. It’s not very long and you have to keep it in play. Graeme Storm played very well too. It was very exciting on the last three holes. The 18^th is tough and you can’t miss the fairway. I had to go left and then it was a good chip and a good putt at the last to win.”

Graeme Storm – 67 (-16 total)

“I’m very pleased. To finish second like in Switzerland last year is disappointing but I’ve secured my card and I’ve got a job again for next year. That was the main thing at the start of the week and today as well. Maybe I could have holed a few more putts and the title would be mine, but congratulations to Thongchai, he made a great up and down on the last.

I felt I played great today under pressure. I was nervous out there. Yesterday I didn’t play great but I hung in there, but today I played great and missed a few chances. It wasn’t meant to be.

The chip on the last was important. I didn’t want to make bogey there after 17. I knew Pelle was coming up 18 and he was going to be one behind if I missed that. So it was vital to finish second on my own and I’m looking forward to trying to qualify for the Race to Dubai final rather than having to go to Q School. It’s amazing to think all of a sudden I might be able to qualify for that.”

Bernhard Langer – 69 (-8 total)

“I think I played pretty well this week. I had a really good back nine on the first day and played very steady golf the next two days. Today I played world class golf. I hit some of the best shots I have ever hit. I just couldn’t make the putts. I couldn’t convert. Otherwise the 69 would have been 63 or 64. Putting is a big part of the game, but my putter was ice cold this week.

I think the staging has been very good. From my personal, standpoint and what I’ve heard from other players and looking at the spectators, they’re having lots of fun. The weather has been good and we’ve got a great golf course, so everyone seems in a pretty good mood.”

FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
 267 T Jaidee (Tha) 68 68 64 67
 268 G Storm  (Eng) 65 67 69 67
 270 P Edberg (Swe) 67 71 63 69
 271 S Hend (Aus) 69 69 68 65

 272 R Karlberg  (Swe) 68 71 66 67, R Fisher (Eng) 67 65 69 71, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 68 68 68 68, J Donaldson (Wal) 67 68 67 70,

 273 J Parry (Eng) 66 70 70 67, R Bland (Eng) 65 70 71 67, S Kjeldsen (Den) 66 70 67 70

 274 M Carlsson  (Swe) 67 68 67 72, B Hebert  (Fra) 64 72 68 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 67 68 69, D Fichardt (RSA) 65 69 70 70, P Uihlein  (USA) 68 68 67 71, R Green (Aus) 65 72 70 67, J Morrison  (Eng) 67 69 70 68

 275 C Schwartzel  (RSA) 66 66 75 68, S Benson (Eng) 68 70 69 68, P Hanson (Swe) 68 70 66 71, B An (SKor) 68 65 73 69, S Wakefield (Eng) 69 70 68 68

 276 E Espana (Fra) 69 69 70 68, B Langer (Ger) 66 71 70 69, H Otto (RSA) 67 70 68 71, A Cañizares  (Esp) 70 67 70 69, G Havret  (Fra) 69 70 67 70, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 67 69 70

 277 J Edfors (Swe) 66 68 70 73, J Luiten (Ned) 69 69 70 69, F Fritsch  (Ger) 66 69 73 69, A Tadini (Ita) 68 69 67 73, J Walters (RSA) 67 68 71 71, L Slattery (Eng) 68 71 71 67

 278 P Mejow (Ger) 68 71 73 66, B Dredge (Wal) 68 70 68 72, G McDowell  (Nir) 68 70 70 70, M Jiménez (Esp) 67 69 70 72, R Karlsson (Swe) 66 72 71 69, A Dodt (Aus) 70 68 71 69, L Jensen (Den) 68 70 67 73, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 69 70 68 71,

 279 M Lundberg (Swe) 70 68 70 71, A Hansen (Den) 69 68 72 70, M Fraser (Aus) 69 69 71 70, M Ilonen  (Fin) 69 66 67 77,
 280 F Zanotti (Par) 70 68 69 73, M Kieffer (Ger) 68 68 71 73, O Fisher  (Eng) 66 69 72 73

 281 C Paisley  (Eng) 67 72 74 68, C Bouniol (Fra) 69 70 68 74, R McEvoy  (Eng) 66 67 73 75, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 72 66 73 70,

 282 A Levy (Fra) 72 67 73 70, S Jamieson  (Sco) 68 70 71 73, S Heisele (Ger) 70 67 73 72, B Evans  (Eng) 68 70 77 67,

 283 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 68 71 72 72

 284 K Ferrie (Eng) 70 67 72 75, P Whiteford (Sco) 67 72 70 75, M Nixon (Eng) 71 68 72 73, D McGrane (Irl) 71 67 71 75

 286 W Ormsby (Aus) 72 67 78 69

 288 A Choi (Can) 70 69 71 78

 290 R Finch  (Eng) 66 72 75 77

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