Thongchai Jaidee made the French Open his own Sunday.
He made Le Golf National his perfect playground for the final round of the 100th playing of this national championship.
He finished mopping up the rest of the field over the final 18 holes with another steady 68 that put him four shots better than runnerup Francesco Molinari and five ahead of swing-experimenting Rory McIlroy.
“I think this is the biggest tournament in my life,” said the soon-to-be 47-year-old Jaidee, who collected his eighth win on the European Tour. “This golf course is fantastic for me, I’m really happy with that. Absolutely perfect!”
Jaidee gave the competition no chance as his family looked on. A native of Thailand who served in his country’s army as a paratrooper, was the fourth over-40 winner on the European circuit this season and the way his game is looking, he could be a darkhorse contender at the Open Championship at Royal Troon in two weeks.
That might not be the case for world’s No. 4 McIlroy, who was sometimes good but mostly bad this week. Despite having what looked like a “C” game, McIlroy still managed rounds of 71-66-70-71 despite not knowing where he ball might end up at times.
Molinari was the only man who made a run at Jaidee with a final round 66 but that was simply not good enough to tough the decorated veteran of the European gang.
