After his remarkable start to the tournament, Miguel Angel Jimenez (-3) has had a day of survival in the ISPS Handa Senior Open at Sunningdale. The Spaniard, who has not missed his appointment with birdies, five in total in this second round at the Old Course, has made too many mistakes and has had to settle for a card of 70 strokes, at par of the course, which although it keeps him in the fight, takes him out of the top 10 and moves him one stroke away from the lead, which changes hands.
The Spaniard began the day with a great birdie on the par five of the 1st, but a mistake from the tee on the par three of the 4th hole unsettled him, resulting in a double bogey. He quickly responded with a birdie on the 5th to get back to even par, but two consecutive bogeys on the 7th and 8th forced him to fight against the tide once more. Jiménez didn’t seem to be affected by the setback because, gradually, with his solidity and effectiveness from tee to green, he climbed back to under par for the day. Until another bogey on the 17th brought him back to square one.
A bogey-free round for Pádraig Harrington today 👏🏻
He's also the clubhouse leader heading into the weekend 🔥#SeniorOpen | @padraig_h pic.twitter.com/Cfqv5pqgga
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 25, 2025
The worst news for Miguel is not that the top spot has slipped a stroke away, with Padraig Harrington (-8) as the new leader, but the number of players who have joined the fight. Thomas Bjorn (-7), with a sensational 63 after starting yesterday at par; K.J. Choi (-7), who is defending the title; or names like Ernie Els (-6), Cameron Percy (-6), Ricardo González (-6) or Justin Leonard (-6) are among them. Also Steven Alker (-4), who lost three strokes today starting the day at the top of the leaderboard.
The Malagueño has an important day ahead tomorrow to close the gap on the leaderboard and reach the final 18 holes of the Senior Open with a chance to reclaim the title he won in 2018. A race for victory from which the other five Spaniards who started the week have fallen: Miguel Ángel Martín (+4), Rafael Benítez (+7), José María Olazábal (+7), Carlos Balmaseda (+11) and Carl Suneson (+11) missed the cut of the top 70 and ties and bid farewell to the tournament earlier than they would have liked.
