THAILAND’S Thongchai Jaidee overcame Victor Dubuisson and Stephen Gallacher in a play-off to seal a dramatic victory at the 2014 Nordea Masters on the weekend.
Jaidee carded a closing 65 at PGA Sweden National, where a host of players – including World Number Two Henrik Stenson – saw their chances of victory come and go.
Having set the clubhouse mark at 16 under par, Jaidee then had to wait as the last four groups made their way down the par five last – with only Dubuisson (67) and Gallacher (68) able to reach his score.
On the first trip back down the 18th, Jaidee spun his third shot to three feet and, after seeing Dubuisson and Gallacher miss lengthy birdie putts, converted to seal a sixth European Tour title.
“I worked hard today,” said Jaidee. “I started with three birdies in a row, had another one on six, then a good comeback on 11 [where he made an eagle three].
“We were nervous the last few holes – 16, 17 and 18 are tough holes – but 16 under was good enough for a play-off.”
Aged 44 years and 205 days, Jaidee is oldest winner of the Nordea Masters and the victory was also his second European Tour win since turning 40.
Jaidee, who has topped the Asain Tour Order of Merit three times in his career, was a late starter to golf and didn’t turn pro till he was 30 after a stint as an army paratrooper.
Richard Green did the best of the Australians with a final round 5-under 67 seeing him finish on 4-under tied for 40th. Wade Ormsby (70) was a stroke further back at T47 while Brett Rumford and Mark Hensby missed the cut.
The European Tour heads to Austria this week for the 2014 Lyoness Open.
Nordea Masters Leaderboard