Jimenez trying to kick the young butts

THE YOUNG brigade are having the better of matters in recent times on the European Tour.

It hasn’t escaped the attention of Miguel-Angel Jimenez, one of the veterans on the circuit, that his fellow Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano has won in each of the last three years even though he is 17 years younger.

The ponytailed Spaniard must go back to the 2005 Welsh Open for his most recent victory. Even in the salubrious surroundings of Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort, he is struggling to put that run to an end. Nevertheless, a second round of 73 yesterday for a halfway total of three over was a whole lot better than he could have reasonably expected an hour into the round. Jimenez had plenty to play for over the weekend.

It might have been expected that the wind and rain that have swept across Adare over the past couple of days would have put an end to Miguel’s chances of a first Irish Open title but he has hung in there to be within striking distance of the leaders with 36 holes to play.

Perhaps we tend to forget that while it blows for much of the time in Ireland, it also does so in Andalucia — in spite of a dreadful start yesterday, a combination of guts and splendid shot-making ensured that Jimenez will be very much around for the weekend. Having started at the 10th and shot four successive bogeys including a six at the 12th, he settled in commendable fashion to complete the nine holes without any further concessions.

Having done so successfully, he reeled off birdies at the 3rd and 5th and although he dropped another shot at the 6th, he responded in style with two cracking shots to the green at the par five 7th and rolled in the eagle putt.

“Not winning doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm at all,” warned the 43 year-old. “What you have to do is continue working and practising because the other players are also very well prepared and competitive and we all want to win. Not winning doesn’t necessarily reflect the level you’re playing at.”

With his ponytail, liking for Havana cigars, fast cars and a good Rioja, Miguel’s apparent gruff exterior belies a proud man of Andalucia possessed of a quirky sense of humour that has endeared him to his fellow players. He can also be very direct. At a team meeting prior to the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills, the players were asked if they had any special requests.

“Si”, said Miguel quickly, “A few bottles of good Rioja wine, Havana cigars and an espresso machine because American coffee is sh***t.”

The room erupted into laughter, the Spaniard had soared in the esteem of his fellow players and, needless to say, all his requirements were attended to.

On the subject of getting the most out of his wide range of cars (his only interests according to the European Tour media guide although due reference is also made to his hugely supportive wife Montserrat and children Miguel-Angel, 12, and Victor, 8), he recoiled at being asked if he had ever surpassed the 260kph recently reached by a Spanish driver in his Ferrari.

“I’m not going down that path”, he growled. “Cars are built to reach that kind of speed and if you are allowed to do that kind of speed on certain roads, well fine. What you shouldn’t do is pass anyone at that speed… the death rate on the roads in Germany where they have no speed limit is much lower. So I think what’s happening here is that people are fairly foolish. I haven’t driven in Germany but, yes, I have driven my rapido here.”

Jimenez has had a strange kind of career given that we knew little about him until the 1997 Ryder Cup when Seve Ballesteros appointed him as his vice captain. As a player, he had achieved precious little up to then because his successes in events like the 1994 Dutch Open didn’t really register on the golfing Richter Scale.

After Valderrama, it was pretty much a case of his involvement in a successful Ryder Cup team unearthing playing talents of which we’d previously been unaware. His earnings at the start of the 2007 season was a very handsome €12.8m. Nevertheless, he is also planning for the future.

“I’m now 43 and not going to be competing all my life”, he pointed out. “When I was 25, it was us kicking the butts of those 40 and over. Now it’s the 25 year-olds (Fernandez is 26) kicking our butts. Now is the time to think about the future.”

Miguel-Angel has recently joined the ranks of the course designers and has a major project on his hands in the Czech Republic and is remodelling a number of courses in Spain including his home lay-out at Guadalhorce near Malaga.

“I have no idea how much prize money I’ve won in my career and I don’t have a goal to have more money than anyone else”, he declared.

“Money is only the means to living. Everyone wants to live better than they do now and it helps quite a lot. I have set up a company that is going to dedicate itself to organising tournaments, designing courses and that type of thing.

“We mustn’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg. The main industry we have here is sun and we have to take advantage of this. We should also look at the competition — Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, people are going to these countries which are the same distance from Central Europe as Spain. It seems there are some people who refuse to accept that this competition exists. They are all cheaper than Spain and aren’t any less attractive. They have the sea, magnificent climate, it’s the same but cheaper.”

This is Jimenez at his most compelling, authoritative, sure of his ground, not afraid to lay it on the line. The big guns in Turespana may not like what they’re hearing but his words need to be heeded. After all, a green fee at a club like Aloha is around €120 and it can be a lot more at places like Valderrama.

It’s a message, of course, that many Irish clubs would also do well to heed.