Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee believes nothing less than a flawless display will enable him to win the Maybank Malaysian Open for a third time this week.
The 45 year old won his first two European Tour titles in this event with back-to-back victories at Saujana, before the tournament switched to its current home of Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.
“The Maybank Malaysian Open has been going for ten years and has been really successful, and this year they have made it more high quality,” said Jaidee, who will need to overcome a field including former World Number One and defending champion Lee Westwood, former Race to Dubai winner Robert Karlsson and Major Champions Graeme McDowell and Y E Yang.
The Maybank Malaysian Open was the first co-sanctioned event between The European Tour and the Asian Tour, and 17 years down the line six-time European Tour winner Jaidee, whose most recent success came in Sweden last year, believes such a high-calibre field is good for the game in Asia.
And Jaidee rates his own chances highly after a couple of solid showings during the Desert Swing, having finished 23rd and 35th in his two starts.
He added: “It’s good for the Asian players; it makes them more confident to play with strong players from Europe, which is important.
“I think it’s good for Asia and it’s a good chance for Asian players – every year there are Asian players on the leaderboard.
“The course this year is going to be tougher than last year. I’ve been playing quite well for the last two weeks in Qatar and Dubai, I played the Pro-Am yesterday and I’m very confident – I hit the ball very well and I’m putting very well too.
“I think on this course everything has to be perfect if you want to win the tournament.”
