Miguel Angel Jimenez helps set pace at Senior Players Championship
He was part of the first group out and wasted no time in setting the pace in the first round of the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, the only pony-tailed player on the PGA Champions Tour and professional golf’s unofficial king of cool, opened with a 2-under 68 on Thursday to share the lead with four others on the famed South Course.
Playing in the first group of the first tee with Fred Couples and Ernie Els in one of the day’s marquee pairings Jimenez birdied the first hole and finished with four birdies and two bogeys en route to a round of 35-33 to share the lead with Wes Short Jr., Steve Stricker, Jerry Kelly and Rod Pampling.
Jimenez, the lover of great food, fine wine and a good cigar, is one of six winners on the PGA Tour Champions this season, having won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii in January.
Coincidentally, he defeated Els and Couples – his playing partners on Thursday – in a playoff.
This is the 11th time and the second time this season he has led or co-led after 18 holes. His best finish in four starts in the Senior Players came in 2016 when he finished tied for second with Joe Durant behind three-time winner Bernhard Langer.
After making the turn at even-par, Jimenez birdied the 10th and 11th holes before a bogey on the 471-yard 13th hole, traditionally one of the toughest on the course.
Jimenez, who has started more than 700 tournaments, was not the only one who found trouble at the unlucky 13th. There were 25 bogeys and eight double-bogeys against just three birdies and 44 pars.
Jimenez got back to 2-under with a birdie on the 221-yard 15th. He had a realistic sub-par attempt on the Monster 16th but missed what appeared to be a makeable six-foot putt.
“I played very well today, very solid,” he said. “I missed a couple of shots when I make the bogeys but I was always consistent. Am I happy? Happy, yeah, all good.”
He was happy enough to make fun of his miss on the 16th hole.
“The hole is moving, you know?” he joked. “When the hole is moving you know. No, I didn’t hit a good putt. As soon as I hit the ball I noticed it had no chance.”
Jimenez, 56, took a short break on the 18th tee while he waited for Els and Couples to tee off. He sat down and stretched out on a nearby bench.
“I played 17 holes, the heat is coming up and it was a beautiful bench in the shade,” he said. “So I sat down before I started walking.”
