Jimenez rediscovers his magic touch in Turkey
Miguel Angel Jimenez has struggled in recent weeks – he was a total of 33-over par in his previous two tournaments – but the eccentric Spaniard flirted with the European Tour’s first ever 59 during the opening round of the Turkish Airlines Open.
He eventually finishing with a nine-under-par 63 to lead Ian Poulter by one on the Colin Montgomerie-designed course at the Maxx Royal resort in Antalya.
Jimenez put himself in pole position to break his own record as the oldest winner on tour when he holed his second shot at the par-four 10th – his opening hole – before rolling in four birdies in a row from the 13th. He added first gains at the first, fourth and fifth, but came home with consecutive pars as he failed to card that ever-elusive sub-60 round.
But he was still delighted with his return to form, saying: “It’s a good start. It’s nice making a low score, it’s been a while.
“It’s special because I’ve been struggling a little bit the last few months and [when] you shoot under par you feel good.
“I like the golf course with the trees on it. It feels nice and you have everything – you have some long holes, you have some short holes and you have a mix. I feel comfortable on this golf course.”
Ian Poulter is all smiles again after an injury-plagued year © Getty Images
Poulter felt his second round of 67 at last week’s WGC-Champions was the best he had played in an injury-plagued year, but admitted his 64 in Turkey “might just top it”.
He added: “It was good golf today. Teeing off on the 10th hole you have to make a quick start, knowing you’ve got some opportunities coming up before you’ve reached the stretch of five, six, seven, eight and nine, which you can slip up on.
“I took care of the par-fives really nicely today, six-under on the par fives, which is always a key to scoring well, especially when you’ve got five of them. You’re going to have to do that well this week, play them well under par to have a chance to win.”
Poulter changed equipment recently in a bid to halt his slide down the world rankings – he moved from 44th to 40th after finishing joint sixth in Shanghai – but reverted to an old putter in Turkey and produced an eagle, seven birdies and one bogey.
“I’m right there,” he said. “Within the space of a couple of weeks, I feel really good about myself. I don’t have any aches or pains, which is really nice. I feel strong and that means I can practice. And when I practice and start holing some putts, then I’m going to be full of confidence like I am right now.”
Low scoring was the order of the day as 50 of the 78-strong field broke par, with England’s Tyrrell Hatton, Australian Wade Ormsby and Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge all a shot behind Poulter on seven-under-par.
But the three players attempting to prevent Rory McIlroy being crowned European No.1 for the second time in two years struggled to make an impression on the upper reaches of the leaderboard.
Sergio Garcia, Ryder Cup team-mate Jamie Donaldson and Germany’s Marcel Siem can still overtake McIlroy at the top of the Race to Dubai, but only if they win both in Turkey and next week’s season-ending World Tour Championship. Siem’s 70 was the best the trio could manage, although the BMW Masters winner was five-under-par after 12 holes, with Donaldson falling back from three-under to level par and Garcia struggling to a 75.
Scotland’s eight-time Order of Merit winner Montgomerie – playing his 600th European Tour event on the course he designed – was a shot worse off after a 76.
Defending champion Victor Dubuisson left himself a mountain to climb just to make the cut after he slumped to a 77 which included five bogeys and a double-bogey.
Tee times for Friday’s second round have been brought forward by 90 minutes due to a forecast for thunderstorms in the area.
Turkish Airlines Open leaderboard
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