Evergreen Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez again proved there is no substitute for experience by topping the leaderboard with a round of 64 on the opening day of the KLM Open.
The 49 year old arrived at Kennemer Golf and Country Club on the back of a top five finish at last week’s Omega European Masters, and promptly picked up where he left off in Switzerland with a six under par round which included eight birdies.
The former Ryder Cup star has made a remarkable recovery from the broken leg he suffered whilst skiing at the end of last year, and is currently 21st in The Race to Dubai having finished in the top five in three of the 12 events in which he has competed this season.
Jiménez birdied three of his first four holes in Zandvoort, The Netherlands, and after dropping his first shot of the day at the sixth hole, he rallied with a majestic approach to five feet at the seventh to get the shot straight back.
He got his back nine off to a disappointing start with a bogey at the tenth hole, but followed up a tap-in birdie at the par five 12th with an approach to five feet at the next.
But the highlight of his round arrived at the 16th hole, where Jiménez holed out with a wedge from 50 yards. After saving par from ten feet at the 17th hole, he rolled in an eight footer at the last to grab the outright lead.
“When the sun came out I started to play my best golf,” said Jiménez. “Holing my wedge shot on the 16th was very nice, then the birdie on the last was a great way to finish. So I’m very happy.
“It’s a nice course and it’s in great condition, so I enjoyed my day very much. It’s maybe not playing as firm as it normally would, because of all the wet weather we’ve had. But hopefully we can get a bit more sun and it will dry out over the next few days.
“Seve’s first win on The European Tour was here in 1976, and José María [Olazábal] also won here in 1989, so hopefully I can win here too. That would be fantastic.”
Jiménez currently leads by one stroke from Robert Allenby, David Howell, Pablo Larrazábal, Damien McGrane, Gary Orr and Fabrizio Zanotti.
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