Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee has swept the four main honors in the Asian Tour's 2004 awards, including the Players' Player of the Year and Order of Merit titles.
On the day he successfully defended his Carlsberg Malaysian Open title, Thongchai was feted by his peers at the ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.
PHOTO: AFP
The awards followed a sparkling season last year which saw him win two titles, the Myanmar Open and the Malaysian Open, and lift the Merit title with record earnings of US$381,930.
PHOTO: AFP
The 35-year-old Thongchai said he was honored.
"This is a great week for me," said Thongchai, who has now won seven times in Asia.
"I am proud to be a part of the Asian Tour. If you look at Arjun Atwal, KJ Choi, Daniel Chopra, Charlie Wi and Kevin Na, they are all winners of Asian Tour events. Now they are on the US PGA Tour. I think that tells you that if you can win in Asia, you have a good chance to make it at a higher level," he said.
Thongchai said his immediate goals now were to win outside of Asia and also earn his right to play in the US Masters in April by breaking into the world's Top 50. Ranked 90th last week, he is destined to move up the list when the rankings are released.
Australia's Adam Groom was named Rookie of the Year after finishing 15th on the Order of Merit last season with winnings of US$117,728. The 26-year-old had three top 10 finishes.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,
RSS