Tenth ace for Jimenez and a new tour record
With all the showmanship of a Spanish matador, Jimenez slides his club back into its imaginary sheath at his side and then performs his celebratory shiny-shoes, shuffle dance. The occasion? It’s another ace for the 51 year old European Tour player. He’s chuffed. And the crowds love it. Just as they have loved all his holes-in-one.
It was just a week ago that Miguel Angel Jimenez holed his tee-shot in round two of the Spanish Open. His hole-in one at the par 3, 146-meter 8th at Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona was the Spanish golfer’s 9th career ace on the European Tour. A record shared with Colin Montgomerie from Scotland – for a little less than a week.
Dressed for the occasion, it would appear, his trousers were like a red rag to a bull in the BMW PGA Championships (21-24 May) at Wentworth, for he holed yet another tee-shot. On Saturday, he proved to the sceptics that scoring aces is perhaps not such a matter of luck after all. Some players simply have the magical touch. His hole-in-one at the second hole at Wentworth (158-yard, par-3) saw an action replay of his dance ritual, naturally.
With ten tournament aces to his credit, three of which this season, his fans could also delight in the fact that Jimenez now holds the outright record for the most holes-in-one on the European Tour. With 9 holes-in-one Colin Montgomerie’s record looked unsurpassable. Just as Eamonn Darcy’s record before him. The Irishman with the not-so-conventional swing notched up 7 aces in his European Tour career. Guess the luck of the Irish has just become the luck of the Spanish!
Wendy Hoad