Spain’s Miguel Angel Jiménez stepped up his bid to top both the Volvo Order of Merit and the Ryder Cup Points List when he moved to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the Algarve Open de Portugal Caixa Geral de Depositos at Le Meridien Penina.
Jiménez, who was yesterday announced as The European Tour Golfer of the Month for January following his outstanding victory in the Johnnie Walker Classic, picked up six birdies in a flawless 66 to move to nine under par 135 and one clear of compatriot Ignacio Garrido, the reigning Volvo PGA Champion, Ireland’s Damian McGrane and Australian Terry Price.
Jiménez currently lies fourth in the Volvo Order of Merit with €305,762 and if he goes on to pick up €208,330 first prize he would move above Darren Clarke, the current incumbent of the Number One position. The 40 year old is also third in the Ryder Cup World Points list and, with 24 points available to the winner, could also find himself overtaking Padraig Harrington in the race to make the European Team for The 35th Ryder Cup Matches at Oakland Hills Country Club from September 17-19.
His last outing on The European Tour ended in disappointment as he was disqualified after his ball was deemed to have moved during a practice swing in the Qatar Masters at Doha but Jiménez shrugged off the incident to post the clubhouse lead.
“What happened there is history,” said Jiménez, a winner of eight titles on The European Tour International Schedule. “You have to live for the moment. Put it all behind you.
“The conditions were very nice today. There was no wind on the front nine and just a little breeze on the back nine. And it is always nice to see your name at the top of the leaderboard. I am hitting it well and hope I stay there for the rest of the tournament.”
McGrane, who earned his European Tour card through the Qualifying School Finals for the second successive season, matched Jiménez’s six under par 66 round to lie one stroke off the lead.
“I played nicely today,” said the 32 year old from County Wexford. “Hit a lot of good iron shots and holed putts which was nice. That’s the formula out there – just hit it inside the flag and pick them off one by one. I made five birdies on the front nine which was a nice solid start and then played okay coming in with the odd birdie here and there. It’s nice to be out there playing well.”
His goal is now to take his game to the next level and climb as high as he can in the Volvo Order of Merit.
“I am playing reasonably well but I want to keep going forward,” he added. “I still believe there is a lot of room for improvement. I want to keep chipping away at it, take a step forward and take my game to the next level because I am not that far away from it at the moment.”
He was joined on eight under par by Garrido who at the start of the week wondered if he would be competing after cutting the palm of his right hand. But after resting on Tuesday and Wednesday the cut had healed and Garrido was able to reap the benefits of swing changes that have taken three years to implement.
“I think the swing is pretty good, close to where we want it to be,” said Garrido. “I knew it would be a long term thing and I am giving myself as long as is necessary especially as the results have been pretty good the last couple of years. Now the swing is feeling very good.”
Another injured player is Price, the Australian struggling with a neck injury for the past two months but successfully negotiating the Sir Henry Cotton layout in 68.
“Playing injured is always difficult,” said Price. “I have had two months with a crook neck. So I just take whatever comes along. It’s hampering not so much the 150 yards in but driving the ball I cannot turn properly. I am just trying to manage my ball the best I can.”
First round leader Peter Lawrie, a close friend of his fellow Irishman McGrane, lies one stroke further back after following his opening 66 with a one under par 71.
“The course was there for the taking today but I made too many bogeys,” said last year’s Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year. “I started with two birdies and thought we were going to have a good day and then made two silly bogeys before the front nine finished. Eventually shot 71 so I’m happy enough. My iron play hasn’t been too good so I need to work on that. But didn’t shoot myself in the foot like I normally do so 71 is not so bad. Hopefully today was the bad day.”
He was joined on seven under par and two strokes off the lead by Welshman Ian Woosnam, the only player in the field to be hot footing it across the Atlantic after this week for the Masters Tournament, the first Major Championship of the season.
