Abu Dhabi: Thai veteran Thongchai Jaidee is in no mood to put his clubs in the attic anytime soon.
The 47-year-old has figured in 10 of the 11 previous editions of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, has six top 15s at the capital course and is keen to keep going for as long as possible.
“Till the time I can’t hit the ball I will play,” said Jaidee on the sidelines of an event organised by Thailand Tourism Authority for whom he is the brand ambassador.
“If I can’t do that I will definitely quit. I put eight to 10 hours every day on my fitness you see. So I’m good to go. What I have understood is golf is not a sport about age but it is all about experience and the will to keep going,” added Jaidee, who won his eighth European title when he clinched the French Open by four strokes ahead of Rory McIlroy in June last season.
“I had my best golf game that week and that victory has given me a lot of confidence. I got back my belief, you can say. I have won eight tournaments in the European Tour and 13 tournaments in the Asian Tour and I’m very proud of my golf game. I have the desire to keep going,” said Jaidee, who along with Kiradech Aphibarnrat, is the only other Thai to figure in this week’s action in Abu Dhabi — and he accepted that is a worry.
“Golf is a tough sport and being on the European Tour is not that easy, especially for the Asian players. The conditions are so different and it takes at least three to four years to get acclimatised to the cold weather and stuff. So it is difficult to do well at the European stage but in a few years you will see more Thai golfers coming in,” said Jaidee, adding Aphibarnrat has shown a lot of promise in the past few years and can go a long way.
“Aphibarnrat is here and he certainly is one golfer we can look forward to. We have some good ladies coming up but it’s been a bit of a struggle as far as the men are concerned,” said Jaidee, who also highly rates the Korean golfers Byeong Hun An, Soomin Lee and Jeunghun Wang.
Aphibarnrat lived up to his reputation with a solid first round and finished tied second with six under.
“Best way to start the season with 66 two behind the leader. My goal is to win a couple more European Tours and get up in the World Ranking. However, my main goal is to try to stay in the US and become the first Thai to play and win there,” said Aphibarnrat, who has roped in a new coach in Pete Cowen of England and is aspiring to get into the top 50 at the end of this year.
“I have been stuck at the same position for over three years and never worked with an overseas coach. Pete’s got a good background and has looked after a lot of good players. It should give me a good experience to jump to the next level,” said Aphibarnrat, who has lots of passion for cars, watches and sneakers.
“I have bought a Ferrari but it is white in colour as my wife wanted it to be different and not red so that everyone in Thailand can know it is me. I have around 40 odd sneakers but watches I can’t buy all with order of merit I’m currently I’m on. I will have to keep winning more tournaments to buy more,” said Aphibarnrat, busting into laughter.