Miguel Angel Jimenez will keep supporting the Open de Andalucía Costa del Sol
Miguel Angel Jimenez will continue to support the Open de Andalucía Costa del Sol financially by contributing his own money.
The 48-year-old Spanish professional golf player is highly committed to supporting his homeland tournament, staged by the European Tour at the amazing venue of the Aloha Golf Club, Andalucia in Spain.
He is the 18-time European Tour winner and the biggest promoter of golf in Spain. He has donated a handsome amount of the $560,000 in the last three years for the smooth operations of the Open de Andalucía Costa del Sol and to support the event.
"It is very important for me that this tournament goes forward," Jimenez said. "With the way the economy is at present, it is difficult to stage any big sporting event because it is not easy to find sponsorship money".
"I don't want to give up and want there to be a tournament in this region of Spain," He added.
Jimenez knows that there are very less sponsorships available in Spain. Without the financial support, the tournament will be halted.
Hence, to continue and support golf in the region, Jimenez has taken an impressive step.
The Open de Andalucía Costa del Sol is scheduled to start from March 15 to 18. The purse of the tournament is $1.3 million, which is also one of the smallest if compared to the other tournaments of the European Tour.
The field of the tournament is competitive and includes former major winners like Mike Weir, Michael Campbell, Rich Beem, José Paul Lawrie and María Olazábal.
Weir will be playing at the Aloha Golf Club after 12 years. Last time he recorded a tremendous victory at the American Express Championship, playing on the same Spanish golf course in 2000.
On the other hand, Lawrie will be defending his title this year. He had won in 2011, by scoring a 12-under 268 and defeated Johan Edfors with a one-stroke lead impressively.
Lawrie earned the prize money of €166,660 in total.
Without the helping hands from the Spanish player Jimenez, this tournament may not be possible every year. Hence, Jimenez efforts should be appreciated and golf must go on in Spain.
The European Tour also has to think about the better future of the tournament and flourishing the game in Spanish region, by attracting more new sponsorships.
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