Miguel Ángel Jiménez (-5) has started the ISPS HANDA Senior Open strongly, placing himself from day one in contention for the final major of the senior golf season. The Málaga native, winner of this tournament in 2018, posted a magnificent 65 on Thursday, five under par, to share third place, just two strokes off the leader, Australian Cameron Percy (-7), at the King’s Course at Gleneagles.
Jiménez once again showed that senior majors remain one of his favourite stages. His card featured six birdies and a single bogey, but with two very distinct stretches in his round. He began with a birdie at the 1st, added another at the 8th before making his only mistake of the day at the 9th. Far from slowing down, he produced an excellent back nine of four under par thanks to birdies at the 10th, 11th, 14th and 18th. A brilliant finish that left him firmly in the privileged part of the leaderboard.
The first leader of the tournament is Cameron Percy (-7), who took advantage of the more favourable course conditions in the morning wave to card a sensational 63. The Australian ran off four consecutive birdies between holes 9 and 12 and confirmed the good form with which he arrived in Scotland after a preparation that, he admitted, took a turn in the final hours of Wednesday. Percy, who is still searching for his first win since joining the senior circuit in 2024, had already shown signs of his potential with several top-10s in the category’s majors and now has taken the first step towards making the decisive leap.
One stroke behind the lead is Frenchman Lionel Alexandre (-6), who produced a flawless, bogey-free 64. Behind him, sharing third place with Jiménez, are South African Ernie Els (-5), American Tom Pernice Jr. (-5) and Pat Perez (-5), who is playing his first Senior Open after turning 50 last March. Particularly notable was Pernice Jr.’s comeback, having been one over par after a double bogey at the 6th before rattling off four birdies and an eagle on the back nine to climb into the leading positions.
The leaderboard remains very tight after the opening day. One stroke behind Jiménez are Johan Edfors, Jerry Kelly, Taggart Ridings, Michael Wright and Emanuele Canonica, all on four under par, while big names such as Zach Johnson (-3), Henrik Stenson (-2), Padraig Harrington (PAR), Retief Goosen (PAR), Stewart Cink (+1) and Darren Clarke (+1) still have plenty of ground to make up on the leaders.
As for the rest of the Spanish contingent, Luis Portela (+2) started with a 72 and Carl Suneson (+3) carded a 73, so both will need to improve on day two to get closer to the top of the leaderboard. A good Thursday for Jiménez, who almost eight years after winning his first and, to date, only Senior Open, is in the mix from day one
