Golfer Jaidee makes U-turn to continue Open challenge

Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand flew back to Edinburgh from London after thinking that he missed the halfway cut at The Open Championship here.

The Thai, who holds an unprecedented three Asian Tour Order of Merit titles, was distant away from the cut-off mark but managed to make the grade right when players struggled with the tough scoring conditions at Muirfield Friday.

"I flew to London after my round yesterday. I thought I missed the halfway cut. Luckily the flight to Thailand was full and I was on the waiting list. Five minutes before I went to collect my ticket, my manager called and said I had a good chance to make the cut. He called again and said that I made the cut. I rushed to catch the flight," he laughed.

His adventure paid dividends when he returned with a third round score of even-par 71 for an eight-over-par 221, a solid effort which was marred by two triple bogeys in the opening round.

"Despite what happened, I stuck to my game plan and like yesterday, I missed only one fairway. I hit a lot of good putts and shots. I think even-par is a good score. My game is getting a little bit better and I'm looking forward to the last round," said the Thai, who is ranked 61st on the Official World Golf Rankings.