Jiménez takes French Open in playoff
Cigar-smoking maverick Miguel Ángel Jiménez took victory in Paris at the Alstom Open de France yesterday, edging out fellow Spaniard Alejandro Cañizares and Italy's Francesco Molinari in a play-off at Le Golf National.
Jiménez shot a solid closing round of four-under-par 67, but with a total of seven birdies the 46-year-old could have wrapped things up without the need for a play-off - until disaster struck on the 18th, when he hit an iron shot into the water to double-bogey the hole, squandering a two shot-lead to allow Molinari and Cañizares back into contention.
But at the first extra hole, Cañizares hit into the water - twice - to effectively remove himself from the contest. When Molinari hit into the bunker, Jiménez had only to putt for par to claim the victory. And while the prize of €500,000 will clearly delight the Spaniard, he seems similarly pleased to have staked his claim for a place on the European Ryder Cup team. This win takes him from 17th to 5th in the points standing.
"It will be nice to be on The Ryder Cup [team]," Jiménez commented. "At 46, probably this is my last chance to be on the team playing. But I would be very proud to be on Monty's team."
Another player who has almost guaranteed his place on the team is Rory McIlroy, and the 21-year-old finished strongly here on Sunday, finishing five-under-par 67 on the day to end 10-under in total, a score that was good enough to see him finish in fourth place - though if he could have found another birdie somewhere along the line he would have made it to the play-off.
Not that McIlroy was downcast about missing out. The lad from Holywood commented: "I gave it a good go. I can take a lot from this. I'm hitting it great and giving myself plenty of chances. I can't wait for The Open."
Defending champion Martin Kaymer might have put up a challenge, were it not for a dispiriting couple of holes on the back nine; the German double-bogeyed both the 15th and the 18th to finish two-over-par 73 on the day, seven-under for the tournament - that left him tied for sixth place. England's Luke Donald was a shot further back on six-under for the tournament, finishing just outside the top 10, tied for 11th place.
Another pair of highly ranked Englishmen, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, weren't far off the pace, both men finishing in a tie for 18th place on four-under for the tournament, but Westwood was playing with a leg injury. The world No. 3 has pulled out of this week's JP McManus Pro-Am in order to undergo treatment for the injury in a bid to make certain he is fully fit for next week's Open at St Andrews.
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