General / Editor / 05 February 2007 /

Nobody could ever accuse Thongchai Jaidee of being dull. How many of the world's leading professionals, for instance, could claim to have enjoyed a distinguished career in the Army before turning their attention to golf?

Jaidee is a remarkable man and his rise up the world rankings is even more incredible when you consider that he didn't decide to pursue a professional career until around the age of 30 - just over seven years ago.

The 37-year-old Thai didn't swing his first golf club until the age of 13 and, six years later, entered the army to serve his compulsory two-year period of national service.

But Jaidee enjoyed his experience as a paratrooper so much that he spent an extra nine years serving his country in the Royal Thai Army before choosing to concentrate on golf.

Jaidee believes his experiences in the army, and the level of discipline, focus and mental strength he learned, is one of the key reasons why he has achieved so much success in the game in such a short space of time.

He is one of a crop of Thai players who have emerged over the last few years to challenge for honours, not just on the Asian Tour but all across the globe.

Jaidee has his sights set on further success this week as he attempts to win his third Malaysian Open, where he can be backed at 12 to win and 3 to place in the first five in the early markets.

He may not have taken up golf until comparatively late in his life, but Jaidee has wasted no time in already carving a niche for himself in the record books.

He became the first Thai player to win a European Tour-sanctioned event at the 2004 Malaysian Open - a victory he repeated 12 months later - and has already won two Asian Order of Merit titles in 2001 and 2004 on his way to being the highest career earner on his home tour.

Jaidee became the second Thai golfer to appear at the US Masters when he was invited to Augusta last year and, in the process, became the first person from his country to have played in all four majors.

Predominantly based in Asia, Jaidee has enjoyed a good start to the 2007 season, winning the Volvo Masters of Asia to help him rise to 69 in the world rankings.

If he continues his present rate of progress, it's difficult to see him not fulfilling his ambition of breaking into the world's top 50 by the end of the year.

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