Georgia: The old Thongchai Jaidee resurfaced on PGA Tour Champions after a lapse of 14 months and the signs were ominous.
The 51-year-old Thai star finished tied 26th in the Mitsubishi Electric Classic at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia on Sunday but the manner in which he closed out the tournament gave him plenty of confidence and optimism for his golf future.
After struggling with an outward 40, Thongchai birdied five of the closing seven holes to ensure his first competitive appearance on US soil since March 2020 ended on a high note.
"It was a good comeback on the back nine. I enjoyed being here," said Thongchai.
"I struggled with my putting on the front. We played all right all week but I didn't have enough time to practice as I arrived on Tuesday from Thailand and was jet-lagged. The greens here are very difficult and I couldn't get the speed right. There were firm and fast but with it being softer today, I had good chances on the back nine. I missed only a few greens and had two three-putts on the eighth and ninth holes."
The former three-time Asian Tour No.1 and eight-time winner on the European Tour is playing catch-up on PGA Tour Champions (senior tour).
After earning his card by finishing a creditable second in qualifying school in December 2019 courtesy of a final round 62, Thongchai went on to finish T29 and T52 in his first two events last March before Covid-19 shut down all sports across the globe.
He returned to Bangkok subsequently and opted to remain in his home country due to the pandemic restricting international travel.
It unfortunately resulted in him missing the restart of PGA Tour Champions last July and prior to last week, he had already missed 16 tournaments, thus limiting the opportunities that he will have on the over-50 circuit for the remainder of 2021.
"I enjoy being on PGA Tour Champions which is a good tour. I was stuck in Thailand due to Covid and tried to leave the country to play here but I couldn't do it.
"The situation at home was difficult and we didn't have any vaccine then but now that I've got both my vaccines, I have more confidence and I hope to spend more time in the US," he said.
Thongchai added that his next start will be the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma from May 27-30.