Six years ago, Miguel Ángel Jiménez became the only man to win a European Tour event after turning 50 with a stunning victory at the Open de Espana. Like a fine wine, the ice cool Spaniard seems to be getting better with age with a triumph every year on the PGA Tour Champions since 2014 including two Senior Major titles at the Regions Tradition and Senior Open. We caught up with the 21-time European Tour winner to get his thoughts on a range of topics from the highlight of his illustrious career to how many cigars he smokes a week!
JIMÉNEZ ON HIS AND BERNHARD LANGER’S LONGEVITY
“I wish I knew the secret to Bernhard’s incredible longevity, he really is a machine and if I could even come close to his achievements on the PGA Tour Champions, I would be very happy. But for me there are no secrets – just try to stay fit and healthy, work hard on my game and the main thing is, to enjoy what I am doing. I still love the competition and as long as I have that feeling when I walk onto the first tee of a tournament, I will still be trying my hardest to win every week.”
JIMÉNEZ ON THE HIGHLIGHT OF HIS CAREER
“Every tournament I have won has been special from the first European Tour win in 1992 in Belgium to the most recent one, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii earlier this year. Winning the Spanish Open in 2014 was amazing in front of my home crowd. But probably the highlights (if I can choose more than one please) would be winning The Senior Open at St Andrews and all four of the Ryder Cup teams that I played on, especially those that won!”
JIMÉNEZ ON DUBAI
“When I played the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in January this year, it was my 26th time playing the tournament so you can imagine how much the area has changed over the years. I love the event, the course at Emirates Golf Club, the fans and I have some great friends in Dubai so it’s always fun to return each year. And of course, my best memory is winning the Desert Classic in 2010!”
JIMÉNEZ ON SEVE BALLESTEROS
“Seve was an inspirational personality who brought huge character and passion to the world of golf and particularly to the European Tour. He was the ‘engine’ of European golf and we all owe a great amount to him for that. I have so many memories of being with Seve. We used to play many practice rounds together and had great fun, even with simple things like hitting a 4 iron out of a greenside bunker.”
JIMÉNEZ ON HIS TWO SENIOR MAJOR TITLES IN 2018
“It was a great moment when I won the Regions Tradition in Alabama as it was my first Major Championship victory but as you can imagine, winning The Senior Open at St Andrews was very special. I had always dreamed of winning a Major on the Old Course at the Home of Golf after seeing Seve do that in 1984 and so to do it in 2018 with my family with me was incredible. A dream come true.”
JIMÉNEZ ON PLAYING THE PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
“I am enjoying it very much, it is a great Tour, very well organised and they take care of the players really well. We have the chance to play in almost 30 tournaments each year (except this year of course!) on great golf courses and against amazing players who have all achieved so much in their careers. It is extremely competitive and you have to play at your very best to win.”
JIMÉNEZ ON SMOKING CIGARS
“Well, I usually smoke about three cigars a day, but it depends a little on the situation and what I am doing during the day. So, probably about 20 cigars a week (or so)!”
JIMÉNEZ ON HIS SON, MIGUEL ÁNGEL JIMÉNEZ JUNIOR, WHO PLAYS ON THE MENA TOUR
“Miguel Ángel is a good player and I hope very much that he will be a much better player than I am but he needs to ‘give time to the time’. He must continue to practise, work hard and gain as much as experience as possible and then, we will see how things go. Sadly, I don’t get to see him play as much as I would like to as we seem to be very often on different sides of the world but whenever we are together we always play. In fact, my other son, Victor, is also a very good golfer although he is still in University at the moment. I hope they have both learned from me.”
