Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee secures PGA Tour Champions card for 2022 season with playoff win at TPC Tampa Bay

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee regained his PGA Tour Champions card by finishing tied second in the final stage of the qualifying tournament at TPC Tampa Bay on Friday.

Thongchai closed with a final round 4-under par 67 to finish three shots behind medallist Rob Labritz, whose bogey-free 64 took him to 17-under for the four rounds.

David Branshaw carded a 68 to finish alongside Thongchai, while Roger Rowland and Tom Gillis are also exempt into open, full-field events for the 2022 season after finishing fourth and fifth.

Thongchai and Branshaw shared runner-up honours at 14-under, before the Thai birdied the first playoff hole to earn the No. 2 spot.

“I performed well this week,” Thongchai said. “I’m putting very well. Everything is better than it was earlier this year. Hopefully I can keep it going.”

Two years ago, Thongchai earned his playing rights on the Champions Tour through Q-School, but the coronavirus pandemic dashed his hopes of performing well in the over-50 circuit, as he missed a large portion of the 2020-21 season because of travel restrictions that kept him in Thailand. He did finish strongly at the end of the recent season with two successive top-10 finishes.

“It feels great. I played a solid round, was solid all week and I’ve now got back my tour card. Hopefully next year will be a lot better than this year. Covid affected everything and shut things down. It was very difficult for everyone.

“In my last two tournaments, I finished top-five and top-10 and it brought my confidence back. I worked very hard before coming over here. It’s difficult to get the five cards and I’m happy I did it. I want to thank my family for their support as I’ve been in the US for the past seven months.”

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Trailing by one entering the final round, Labritz, a club professional, was on form to surge to the top of the leader board. He said he had been working towards tour status for 15 years.

“I’m beyond the moon,” he said. “I’m almost speechless. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this, to know that my golf game held up.”

After opening with four consecutive pars in the final round, Labritz birdied seven of his next 10 holes before closing with four pars. Labritz, who turned 50 this year, advanced to the final stage by finishing runner-up at the qualifier last month in Valrico, Florida.

Players who finished sixth to 30th at Q-School are eligible to play in open qualifiers in 2022. Among them is Korean Charlie Wi who carded a 72 to finish in a tie for 17th.