SUNDAY JULY 3, 2016 - 100TH OPEN DE FRANCE
THONGCHAI JAIDEE
• His eighth European Tour International Schedule victory in his 329th European Tour event.
• Moves to 922,200 points in the Race to Dubai.
• Could move close to the top 35 in the Official World Golf Ranking, from 57th.
• His first European Tour victory since the 2015 Porsche European Open.
• Claims a European Tour victory for the third consecutive season. In 2014 he won the Nordea Masters, 2015 the Porsche European Open and 2016 the 100th Open de France. Is this first time during his European Tour career he has won in three successive years.
• Moves into joint second place in the current list for most consecutive winning seasons on the European Tour with three, alongside Rory McIlroy. Justin Rose is the current leader with four seasons in a row.
• His first four European Tour titles all came in Asia, while the next four would have all been in Europe.
• Victory comes in his 11th appearance in the Open de France.
• This victory beats his previous best finish in the Open de France of tied second in 2014. (Was also tied tenth in 2015). With his win in 2016, his best three performances in the Open de France have all been in his last three starts.
• Aged 46 years and 238 days becomes the oldest winner of the Open de France since the event became part of the European Tour in 1972, beating the previous mark of Miguel Angel Jiménez, who was 46 years and 180 days in 2010.
• Becomes the 13th oldest winner in European Tour history, aged 46 years and 238 days.
• Becomes the 11th different player in European Tour history aged 46 years or older to win.
• Becomes the oldest winner on the European Tour since Miguel Angel Jiménez, won the Open de España, aged 50 years and 133 days in 2014.
OTHER FACTS
• The third victory on the 2016 European Tour by a player aged 40 or over. They are: Scott Hend (43 at the True Thailand Classic presented by Chang), Henrik Stenson (40 at the BMW International Open) and Thongchai Jaidee (46 at the 100th Open de France).
• His fourth European Tour victory since turning 40 in November 2009. They are: 2012 ISPS Handa Wales Open, 2014 Nordea Masters, 2015 Porsche European Open and 2016 100th Open de France.
• Moves into joint third in the list of most European Tour victories by a player aged 40 or over. Miguel Angel Jiménez is leading with 14, Mark McNulty is next with five, then comes Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie and Thongchai Jaidee with four.
• Becomes the first Asian player to win the Open de France since the event became part of the European Tour in 1972. (In 1971 Lu Liang Huan won the event from Chinese Taipei).
• Thailand becomes the 14th different country to win the Open de France since the event became part of the European Tour in 1972.
• Becomes the 13th Thai victory in European Tour history, the most of any Asian country.
• Becomes the first Thai victory of the 2016 European Tour season.
• Becomes the first Thai victory since Thongchai Jaidee won the 2015 Porsche European Open.
• Becomes the fifth consecutive European Tour season that Thailand have won, dating back to the 2012 season.
• Creates a European Tour record for the most number of Asian victories in a single season, with seven.
• Sets a new record for the number of different Asian countries to win in the same European Tour season with four. They are: India – SSP Chawarasia, China – Li Haotong and Ashun Wu, Korea – Soomin Lee and Jeunghun Wang and Thailand – Thongchai Jaidee.
• The fifth of his eight European Tour victories where he has led or shared the lead going into the final round.
• Extends his European Tour exemption until the end of the 2019 season.
• Gains his largest European Tour prize of €583,330.
• Gains his 19th victory as a professional.
• Has now won in 12 different countries throughout the world.
