Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez again upstaged his much younger rivals, grabbing an eagle and seven birdies in a nine-under-par 63 to lead the first round of the Turkish Airlines Open on Thursday.
The 50-year old Jimenez had just 23 putts amid ideal scoring conditions on the Montgomerie Maxx Royal Course in Belek.
Jimenez’s effort was also just a shot shy of the course record, with the pony-tailed golfer ending the opening day of the US$7 million event one shot clear of England’s Ian Poulter.
Three players — Australia’s Wade Ormsby, England’s Tyrrell Hatton and South African Brendon De Jonge — shared third place on seven-under-par.
In December last year, Jimenez broke his own “oldest winner” European Tour record when he successfully defending his Hong Kong Open title at age 49 years and 337 days.
Now, in his 642nd Tour event, Jimenez could break that record for a third time.
“To shoot nine-under-par on this course in only the first round, it’s a good start,” Jimenez said. “I was six-under-par after seven holes and playing very well, and you just try to enjoy yourself, and it’s the way to shoot very low, still exciting and I managed to do that.”
“I like this golf course with all the trees on it,” he said. “It feels nice, and you have everything. You have some long holes, you have some short holes and you have a mix. So I feel comfortable on this golf course.”
“This is a special round, because I’ve been struggling a little bit the last few months, but when you shoot under par, you feel very good,” he added.
Poulter, using a putter that he last used to finish third in last year’s Open, was just as thrilled with his effort after struggling in recent weeks.
After a strong share of sixth place in last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions event, and getting used to new clubs for a first time in seven years, Poulter said he is feeling a lot happier about his game.
“I decided to switch back to my old putter late last week that has a softer insert and it felt really good on these quick greens,” Poulter said. “And it was kind of funny, as I holed a 40 footer for eagle on the first par five.’”
“So the old putter is back in the bag,” he said. “I also started to hit some good shots and I started to roll the putts in that I would expect to hole, and then it adds up to eight-under-par.”
The Adelaide-born Ormsby, competing in Turkey for the first time in his career, ended his round with six birdies in succession and played his inward nine in seven-under-par, including eight birdies and a 12th hole bogey.
“I’ve had some hot runs the last few weeks, including the Perth International, where I had five birdies in a row, and last week in the first round when I defended my Panasonic Open title in India I had four in a row,” Ormsby said. “But I’m just pleased to be here competing in an event of this stature.”
American John Daly, competing on an invitation, shot a three-under-par 67, while Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, celebrating his 600th European Tour event, signed for a four-over-par 76 on the course he designed.
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