St. Andrews, Scotland ….
Miguel Angel Jiménez now looks to follow in the footsteps of the late, great Seve Ballesteros after moving into the clubhouse lead late on day two of the Senior Open Championship at St. Andrews.
Jimenez ended his round near 9pm enjoying a one shot lead at nine-under par and thanks to a three-hole stretch where the golfer known as ‘The Mechanic’ eagled the 14th and then birdied the next two holes in a round of a five-under par 67.
Three players – the American duo of Kirk Triplett (71) and former PGA Championship winner Jeff Sluman (68) along with prolific over-50s winning Bernhard Langer (69) – share second place on eight-under par.
Miguel Angel Jimenez leads the 2018 Senior Open
However, fog delayed the start of the second round by two hours and 20 minutes and that meant 18 players, including Canadian Stephen Ames on nine under par with a hole still to play, will complete their final rounds on Saturday morning starting at 07:00 and with the third round to egin no earlier than 09:00.
The 54 year old Jimenez hopes to follow in the footsteps of Ballesteros, who famously won his second Open Championon the Old Course in 1984.
“I played very solid today – super golf,” said Jiménez. “It was very difficult with very strong winds on the first nine holes, and then on the back nine I played solid.
“It would mean a lot to win The Senior Open, especially here at St Andrews, but some of the top players in the world are here. Seve was the first Spaniard to win The Open on this golf course, and it would be amazing if I could join the club with him.”
Seve Ballesteros wins 1984 Open
In a share of third place are defending champion Bernhard Langer and American pair Jeff Sluman and Kirk Triplett.
Langer, who started the day five under par, carded a blemish-free round of 69 as he continued his strong defence of The Senior Open Trophy.
“I had plenty of opportunities,” said Langer. “I hit most of the greens in regulation and towards the end of the round we got a nice break. The last three or four holes the wind kind of dropped and it was a lot easier than it would have been earlier in the day.”
Tom Watson continued to defy as he shot his age, a marvellous 68, on the Old Course.
“I have been playing well and I attribute it to practicing quite hard before I came here,” said Watson. “I shot 68 on the Old Course under pretty good conditions and I’m very pleased. Anytime I can shoot my age I’m very pleased.”
The three-time Senior Open champion shares sixth place with Sweden’s Jarmo Sandelin and Fiji’s Vijay Singh on seven under par.
