www.globalgolfpost.com
MARCH 19, 2012
ANDALUCIA, SPAIN |
A tournament
host par excellence,
Miguel Angel
Jimenez
remains cheerfully prepared
to carry on helping with the funding of
the Open de Andalucia. Over the last
six years, he has contributed comfort-
ably more than £ 1 million to an event he
deems so important to the area, though
he was hell bent on winning some back.
always be relied upon to inject a touch
of humour to proceedings.
The flamboyant Jimenez was run
off his feet from the moment he arrived
back from Doral last Monday. “My head,”
he said, with his extraordinary crop of
frizzy red hair somehow helping to get
his message across, “is all over the
place. To give you a local Spanish saying,
‘Too many doors are open.’ I am dizzy.”
He confessed that he had asked
Tiger Woods
to his tournament again
this year. “I say to Tiger, ‘I cannot offer
you money because there is none in
Spain. But what I can do, is to put you
up in the best hotel and take you out
to dinner where you will taste the best
Pescaito Frito (fried fish) in the world.’ ”
It didn’t quite do the trick.
Both in his practice round and the
pro-am at Aloha, he was issuing a
steady stream of instructions to
Jose
Maria Zamora
, the tournament referee.
To which a bemused and exasperated
Zamora responded: “You focus on your
golf and leave this side of things to us.”
Zamora suspected that he was wast-
ing his breath though, in the light of
Jimenez’s hot start – he was one off
the lead at the halfway stage – that was
maybe not the case.
In fact, a question mark hangs over
whether the Pescaito Frito would have
been any better at that restaurant than
at Jimenez’s home. Apparently, the
Spaniard has long been renowned for his
fish dishes, while he always has a large
ham on the go which he carves with a
flourish all his own. “To cut a ham, you
need a flat swing,” he recommends.
Away from the course, the local hero
was sitting alongside politicians and
other dignitaries at one press confer-
ence after another. He is seen as a
player who has what it takes to see the
bigger picture – and as one who can
Who should turn up at the tourna-
ment but
Javier Ballesteros
,
Seve
’s
older son. The 21-year-old is studying
law at Madrid University where he still
has two years ahead of him. His father
always wanted him to have a proper
childhood and a proper education
but, once he has finished his degree,
he plans to turn professional. “Bet-
ter than being a lawyer,” he admitted,
eyes twinkling.
Currently the owner of a scratch
handicap, Javier had been looking
forward to playing in the pro-am
ahead of this year’s Majorca tourna-
ment until that event disappeared
from the schedule.
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