Miguel Ángel Jiménez

Early years

Born in Málaga in southern Spain, Jiménez first played on the European Tour in 1988 and improved steadily over the next few seasons. His first win on the tour came at the Piaget Belgian Open in 1992. During a fairly up and down career, he has so far had four main periods of success. He has finished inside the top 100 on the European Tour Order of Merit every season since 1989. In 1994 he finished fifth on the European Tour Order of Merit. One highlight was scoring an exceptionally rare albatross (double eagle) on the 17th hole at Valderrama, during the 1994 Volvo Masters, sinking his second shot on the par-5 hole with a 3-iron.

After some weaker seasons he bounced back in 1998 and 1999, finishing fourth on the Order of Merit in consecutive years and winning four tournaments including the prestigious Volvo Masters. In 1999 he also came second in the WGC-American Express Championship, which is one of the elite World Golf Championships events, and made his Ryder Cup debut.

Career since 2000

In 2004 he once again bounced back from some modest seasons, notching up another fourth-place finish on the Order of Merit, and winning four European Tour events, which was more than any other player. He maintained his form into 2005, winning the Omega Hong Kong Open, which is a European Tour event, and the Celtic Manor Wales Open. He has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings. Jiménez has had great success in team events representing Europe and Spain, winning the Alfred Dunhill Cup in 1999 and 2000, the Seve Trophy in 2000 and the Ryder Cup in 2004 and 2010.

In 2005 he won the Spanish Pairs final, with Andrés Jiménez at La Cala Resort in Andalucia, Spain.

2008 proved to be another good season with two wins, including the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, in which he beat Oliver Wilson in a play-off. His form earned Jiménez a spot on the 2008 Ryder Cup team. He finished the season ranked fourth on the Order of Merit once more.

While defending his BMW PGA Championship title in 2009, Jiménez scored a rare albatross (double eagle) by holing a 206-yard (188 m) six-iron on his second shot on the par-five fourth. It was the second such feat of his competitive career.

In February 2010, Jiménez won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, beating Lee Westwood in a playoff and in July added the Alstom Open de France, beating Alejandro Cañizares and Francesco Molinari on the first hole of a playoff. He won his third event of the year at the Omega European Masters, finishing three strokes ahead of Edoardo Molinari

Jiménez was named as Europe's fourth assistant captain for the Ryder Cup in 2012. Later in 2012 he won his 19th European Tour event at the UBS Hong Kong Open, and in doing so became the oldest ever winner on the European Tour.

While skiing in southern Spain on 29 December 2012, Jiménez fell and suffered a right tibial plateau fracture, which required surgery and kept him out of competition for several months. He played in the Open de España in April 2013 but missed the cut and returned to the European Tour in late May. In July, Jiménez was the 36-hole leader at The Open Championship. Later that summer, he lost a playoff to Joost Luiten at the KLM Open. In December 2013 Jiménez retained his Hong Kong Open title and broke his own record as the European Tour's oldest winner.

On 18 April 2014, Jiménez made his Champions Tour debut by shooting a course record 65 at the Greater Gwinnett Championship. Jiménez went on to win the tournament by two shots over Bernhard Langer.

Exactly one month later, Jiménez again extended his record as the oldest champion on the European Tour, securing his first triumph in the Open de España in his 27th time playing the event. Jiménez's up-and-down par on the first playoff hole defeated Richard Green and Thomas Pieters. The win was Jiménez's 14th since turning 40 and tied him for 10th all-time among golfers with the most European Tour victories.

In January 2015, Jiménez won his second Champions Tour event at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

On 23 May 2015, Jiménez aced the par-3 second hole during the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club, his tenth hole-in-one on the European Tour, which broke the record he jointly held with Colin Montgomerie. The ace was Jiménez's third of the season. He went on to finish joint second in the tournament.

In April 2016, Jiménez won for the third time on the Champions Tour, with a two-stroke victory at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic over Scott Dunlap.

Personal

Jiménez is known as "The Mechanic" for his preference for driving, rather than repairing, high-performance vehicles, especially his red Ferrari.

After the winner's press conference following the 2014 Open de España, Jiménez was asked the secret of his longevity. He stated, "There is no secret. Good food, good wine, good cigars and some exercise!"

European Tour wins (21)

¹ Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (5–3)

Asian Tour wins (7)

¹ Co-sanctioned with the European Tour

Other wins (3)

Results in major championships

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = Disqualified
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Results in World Golf Championship events

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

¹Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Senior major championships

Results are not in chronological order before 2016.

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances