Gullane, Scotland: Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand had to make a quick U-turn from London back to Edinburgh on Friday night after thinking that he had missed the halfway cut at The Open Championship.

The Thai star was a distant away from the cut-off mark but managed to make the grade right on the bubble (150) when players struggled with the tough scoring conditions at Muirfield.

“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. We (with Thaworn Wiratchant) reached London at around 7pm and waited for the counter to open to try and get a flight.

“At about 8.45pm I was told that I had a seat in business class and I thought, ‘Wow, I’m lucky’. Then my manager called me and told me that I had a good chance to make the cut. That was five minutes before I went to collect my ticket!

“Shortly after that, my manager called me again and told me that I made the cut and I had to fly back to Edinburgh! I had one hour and 15 minutes to get from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 so I had rush to catch the flight,” he laughed.

“It was an amazing experience for me. This is the first time in my life that this has happened to me but it was quite fun!” said Thongchai, who holds an unprecedented three Asian Tour Order of Merit titles.

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.

“After my round, I thought the cut would be at six-over. When I left the cutline was still at about three or four-over. I thought it was impossible to make the cut. I didn’t watch the live scoring at all. I’ve been travelling for seven weeks in a row so I was a bit tired and thinking of going home to see my family.

“Despite what happened, I feel good. It was fun. 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.