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One-shot wonder Jiménez’s perfect 10

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Miguel Ángel Jiménez. Picture: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Miguel Ángel Jiménez. Picture: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

In any sport there is a select breed of talented players who simply seem to have all the luck.

But in golf there is a particular man who stands out – Spanish veteran Miguel Ángel Jiménez.

The 51-year-old, the world’s most interesting golfer, last Saturday created another first in European Tour history.

Jiménez, the tour’s oldest winner, broke a record with his 10th hole in one.

The ponytailed golfer with a penchant for cigars, fine wine and beautiful women, surpassed Scottish veteran Colin Montgomerie’s achievement of nine holes in one on the tour.

When a ball hit from a tee shot lands inside the hole it is called a hole in one, or an ace in America. It is every golfer’s dream. And in a tournament it is no mean feat.

But for Jiménez, who usually goes about the golf course as if he doesn’t take his game all that seriously, the accomplishment seems easy.

The Spaniard aced the par-three hole on the second day of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club in Surrey, England. He celebrated with his trademark dance – much to the delight of the gallery on the 18th green. (Go to citypress.co.za for the video)

It was Jiménez’s third ace of the season.

A week before, on May 17, the man nicknamed The Mechanic had equalled Montgomerie’s hole in one record during the Open de España in Barcelona. He sank a six-iron shot into a par-three eighth hole at the Real Club de Golf El Prat. He won 288 bottles of beer for his exploits in Spain, and was also given Champagne to mark the milestone.

Jiménez, who managed the feat again on the final day at Wentworth in 2008 – when he won the tournament – told CNN this week: “You get the right distance, the right club, hit a good shot – and those are the ingredients you need to make a hole in one. It’s nice to have the record.”

World number one Rory McIlroy spoke at a dinner before Jiménez’s achievement.

“You’re my hero. You know why? Every time I turn on the TV, you either make a hole in one or you hole out and you do your little...” and here McIlroy imitated Jiménez’s dance. “Every week you hole a shot,” McIlroy enthused.

Legendary Gary Player, regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the game, said: “Jiménez is a colourful character in world golf who is in a class of his own. Besides being a talented player, he’s an entertainer who makes the game more interesting.”

Jiménez is playing in the Irish Open at Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Northern Ireland. The final round is today

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