Miguel Ángel Jiménez (-12) has finished in seventh position at the Simmons Bank Championship, a tournament making its debut this season on the PGA Tour Champions calendar, held at the Pleasent Valley Country Club in Arkansas. It was the last event before the grand finale of the Schwab Cup, which will take place next week at the Phoenix Country Club in Arizona.
It’s been a long time since a top 10 finish by Jiménez on the senior circuit in the United States stopped being news, after all, he frequently found himself in the top ten and top five positions. However, this season has been a bit more challenging for the brilliant golfer from Churriana. In fact, with this seventh position, he broke a sequence of nine consecutive tournaments without finishing in the top 10. His performance in Arkansas has highlighted a significant statistic for the golfer from Málaga.
Never before on the PGA Tour Champions had he gone nine weeks without finishing in the top ten. Never is never. In fact, you have to go back to 2011, when he was competing on the regular circuit, DP World Tour, WGC, and Majors to find the last time he went so long without breaking into the top ten. In that season, he linked eleven consecutive tournaments, between the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea and the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.
These are the astonishing records that Jiménez leaves us with when one starts to delve a little into his sporting career. Thirteen years have passed since Miguel Ángel last went so long without securing a top ten finish.
It should be noted that, in addition to finishing in seventh position, Jiménez was fighting for victory until the last three holes. In fact, he reached the final stretch with his chances intact. A bogey on the 16th hole and another on the 18th, a par 5 where many birdies were made, prevented him from challenging Padraig Harrington, the winner of the tournament.
Nonetheless, Jiménez has managed to qualify for the circuit final for the ninth consecutive year, ever since he joined the Champions. He is ranked 23rd in the Schwab Cup. Ahead of him, there are only two golfers older than the Andalusian: the indomitable Bernhard Langer, who is already 67 years old, and Rocco Mediate, who is 61, one year older than the ‘Pisha’.
