Thongchai with his trophy at Pebble Beach. — AFP
THAILAND’S Thongchai Jaidee beat Justin Leonard on the fourth playoff hole to clinch the 2023 Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.
This was Jaidee’s second victory on the PGA Champions Tour, having won the 2022 American Family Insurance Championship with an identical 14-under-par 202 total.
The Thai star could have won it in regulation but he missed a birdie putt on the par-5 closing hole.
After that, the pair then birdied the 18th in the sudden-death playoff, before they both parred the par-3 17th hole. When they were back at the 18th hole for a fourth time on the day, par proved enough for Jaidee to win after Leonard hit his tee shot over a retaining wall.
The two golfers and their caddies couldn’t find the ball. In the end he walked off with a seven.
Jaidee’s triumph last season made him the first Thai golfer to win on the Champions Tour. A member of the 2015 Presidents Cup, he has 22 international wins, including eight on the European Tour, of which two were the Maybank Malaysian Open, in 2004 and 2005.
