Jimenez targets Ryder dream

Colin Montgomerie is full of admiration for what Miguel Angel Jimenez has achieved since his 40th birthday five years ago.

But whether that made the Spaniard one of the 12 names on Montgomerie’s secret “dream team” for next year’s Ryder Cup is open to doubt.

With so many bright young things on the European Tour now, does 46-year-old Montgomerie think a player born only seven months after him would earn a fourth cap under his captaincy?

Probably not, especially as Jimenez has not won since the BMW PGA Championship in May last year and has fallen from fourth on the Order of Merit to outside the top 20 this season.

But here we are at the first qualifying event, the Omega European Masters in Switzerland, and Jimenez went into the third round today in joint second place only a stroke behind South African Thomas Aiken.

“I would love to play again,” said the Malaga golfer. “It’s one of my long-terms goals, but you just have to concentrate on playing golf.”