After extending his own record as the European Tour’s oldest champion, Miguel Angel Jimenez has set his sights on another mark: becoming the oldest Ryder Cup member.
The Spaniard, who turns 50 next month, won the Hong Kong Open for the fourth time on Sunday. He drained a 25-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Prom Meesawat and Stuart Manley, only eight months removed from returning from a broken leg.
It was his 13th European Tour title since turning 40, and his second in a row at Hong Kong Golf Club.
If Jimenez were to qualify for Paul McGinley’s squad, he would top the previous mark set by Ted Ray, who was 50 years, 2 months and 5 days when he participated in the inaugural matches in 1927.
“If I play the way I am playing this week,” Jimenez told reporters afterward, “I will be (on) the Ryder Cup team. There is one more year to go and now I get this victory here it will help a lot. You never know; I would love to be part of the team again.”
Jimenez last represented Europe at the 2010 Ryder Cup, where he went 2-1 in a winning effort.
Just keep him off the slopes this winter – that’s how he broke his leg last December and missed more than four months.
