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My Shot During my 11-year stint in the Thai army, I learned to play well enough to make history
By Thongchai Jaidee
My road to Southern Hills has been a long one. I earned an exemption into the sectional by ranking second on the Asian tour money list. In April, I made my first trip to the U.S. and, while there, attended a weeklong program at the Landmark Golf School outside Palm Desert, Calif. I returned to the States on Memorial Day weekend with my caddie, Wanchai Meechai, who is also a referee on the Asian tour. We didn't know anyone here and were afraid to go out much because of the stories we had heard about all the crime, so aside from a few practice rounds at El Caballero, we left the Days Inn in Tarzana only for meals (Panang curry and Pad Thai) at a Thai restaurant a block away. We tried McDonald's and some other American restaurants, but the food was inedible. Unlike most of Thailand's golfers, I'm not from a wealthy family. My mother, Payom, was a custodian at the army hospital in Lop Buri, a post 80 miles north of Bangkok. I joined the army at 19 and taught myself to play on the Lop Buri course. After my two years of mandatory service ended in 1991, I stayed in the army for nine more years so I could get access to a course and pursue my dream of becoming a pro. I was a paratrooper, but the army let me spend most of my time working on my game. I'd run seven miles every morning, then practice for up to 12 hours. I turned pro in 1999, the year after winning the Thailand Amateur. I've called home many times in the last week. Everybody wants to know if I'm nervous. Yes, a little. But my biggest fear is that I won't find a good Thai restaurant in Tulsa and will starve. Thongchai Jaidee, 32, won the Indian Open in March.
Issue date: June 18, 2001
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Robert Beck
