Open de Andalucia

[FC Basher]

* Jiménez aiming to be the perfect host in Andalucia

23 Mar 2009
Miguel Angel JimenezMiguel Angel Jimenez©2009 Getty Images

Miguel Angel Jiménez will aim to be the perfect host to his fellow professionals this week as the tournament promoter of the Open de Andalucia de Golf 09, where Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie of Scotland will make his 500th professional career appearance on The European Tour.

Jiménez, a hugely popular figure on Tour, has exerted his influence to attract a high quality field to the Real Club de Golf de Sevilla, including Montgomerie and José Maria Olazábal, who designed the course which has hosted the World Cup and the Open de in recent years.

“It makes me very proud to be promoting the Open de Andalucia de Golf once again,” said Jiménez. “Everyone knows what a tough time it is around the world at the moment and so I am very grateful to our sponsors, Junta de Andalucía and Valle Romano Golf Resort, for their support and for giving us the opportunity to stage this Tournament again. Seville is one of the most beautiful and cultural cities in the world, and of course the great food, wine and weather helps too!

“As the promoter I am really honoured that so many of the world’s best players have chosen to come to play the Open de Andalucia de Golf. I know only too well how the global travel that we choose to undertake these days can be exhausting, and it means a great deal to me that these guys will include the Open de Andalucia de Golf in their busy schedules.”

Jiménez, who defends his BMW PGA title in May, added: “It is fantastic for our tournament that Colin Montgomerie has chosen to play his 500th European Tour tournament as a professional at the Open de Andalucia de Golf. His achievements in golf are second to none on The European Tour and when he confirmed his participation it was a great boost for the event. We are really looking forward to welcoming Colin to Andalucia.

“In my opinion the course at the Real Club de Golf de Sevilla lives up to its regal name. It really is one of the best golf courses in Spain, and I am not just saying that because it was designed by my great friend, José Maria Olazábal!

“It’s a very challenging course with lots of bunkers and water. You need to use every club in the bag, but it’s a very fair course and rewards all round good play. Everyone knows that José Maria has suffered recently with illness and so when I asked him if he would think about coming to play the Open de Andalucia de Golf, I was so happy when he agreed to do so.”

A host of European Tour champions will be on parade alongside Jiménez, Montgomerie and Olazábal in Seville, including defending champion, Frenchman Thomas Levet, who took the Open de Andalucia de Golf title 12 months ago after a sudden-death play-off with England’s Oliver Fisher.

While Levet will be keen to put up a strong title defence in Seville, Peter Lawrie will probably feel more at home this week.

The Irishman won the Open de Espana over the Real Club de Golf de Sevilla last season, so while he is playing in a different tournament, he will be able to draw upon those 'victory vibes' from last May, when he took the Open de Espana after a play-off with Ignacio Garrido.

Garrido will be part of an impressive Spanish contingent in Seville including Pablo Larrazabal and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, and will be hoping to go one better this time around.

No matter who etches his name on the Open de Andalucia trophy on Sunday afternoon, much of the focus this week will, rightly, fall on Montgomerie.

The record-breaking Scot opened his account on his 54th European Tour appearance back in 1989, when he cruised to an 11 shot win at the Portuguese Open – his biggest margin of victory in a European Tour event.

Since then, the 45 year old has re-written the history books several times, having amassed a total of €23,639,775 in European Tour Official Career earnings, recorded 182 European Tour top ten finishes, set 13 European Tour course records, and lifted the Harry Vardon Trophy for finishing European Tour Number One eight times.

In addition, he has notched eight holes in one on The European Tour, won six European Tour titles in a single season, received The European Tour Golfer of the Year award four times, and captured three consecutive BMW PGA Championship titles.

Montgomerie said: “I am very fortunate to have reached the landmark of playing in my 500th European Tour event as a professional. I am very lucky that my career is also my passion, and that I still enjoy the thrill of competing just as much as I did when I started out on The European Tour 20 years ago.

“Over the years and the 499 professional events I have played in, I have been delighted and proud to be part of The European Tour and to see it develop into the thriving worldwide Tour it stands as today. My 500th event is the Open de Andalucía de Golf, a tournament run by Miguel Ángel, a good friend and a great player. When he asked me to take part in the event, I immediately said yes.”

PGA European Tour - Home Page

Win Market Each-way 1/4 1-2-3-4-5
Soren Hansen 17.00 Anders Hansen 21.00
Miguel Angel Jimenez 21.00 Simon Dyson 23.00
Peter Hanson 26.00 Anthony Wall 29.00
Soren Kjeldsen 31.00 Thomas Aiken 34.00
Bradley Dredge 34.00 Raphael Jacquelin 36.00
Gonzalo F-Castano 41.00 Estanislao Goya 41.00
Damien Mcgrane 41.00 Robert-Jan Derksen 41.00
Danny Willett 41.00 Francesco Molinari 41.00
Jose Manuel Lara 46.00 Ignacio Garrido 46.00
Colin Montgomerie 46.00 Rafael Cabrera Bello 46.00
Ross McGowan 46.00 Nick Dougherty 46.00
David Horsey 51.00 Michael Hoey 51.00
Thomas Levet 51.00 Andrew McLardy 56.00
Stephen Gallacher 56.00 Peter Lawrie 61.00
Niclas Fasth 61.00 Steve Webster 61.00
Pablo Larrazabal 67.00 Ricardo Gonzalez 67.00
David Drysdale 67.00 Felipe Aguilar 67.00
Peter Hedblom 67.00 Callum Macaulay 71.00
Jose Maria Olazabal 81.00 Graeme Storm 81.00
David Howell 81.00 Martin Erlandsson 81.00
David Lynn 81.00 John Bickerton 91.00
Branden Grace 91.00 Alejandro Canizares 91.00
Paul Lawrie 101.00 Maarten Lafeber 101.00
Marc Cayeux 101.00 Thomas Björn 101.00
Hennie Otto 101.00 Chris Wood 101.00
Pelle Edberg 101.00 Paul McGinley 101.00
Rhys Davies 101.00 Carlos Rodiles 101.00
Gregory Havret 101.00 Oliver Fisher 101.00
Alvaro Velasco 111.00 Gregory Bourdy 111.00
Alfredo Garcia-Heredia 111.00 Paul Broadhurst 111.00
Simon Khan 111.00 Oskar Henningsson 111.00
Wil Besseling 111.00 Alastair Forsyth 126.00
Markus Brier 126.00 Mark Foster 126.00
Andrew Coltart 126.00 Jan Are Larsen 126.00
Jean-Francois Lucquin 151.00 Robert Rock 151.00
Jarmo Sandelin 151.00 Jesus Maria Arruti 151.00
Richard Bland 151.00 Mikael Lundberg 151.00
Wade Ormsby 151.00 Rafa Echenique 151.00
Philip Archer 151.00 Miles Tunnicliff 151.00
Fabrizio Zanotti 151.00 Joakim Haeggman 176.00
Magnus Carlsson 176.00 Ulrich Van Den Berg 176.00
Jean-Baptiste Gonnet 176.00 Gary Murphy 176.00
Paul Waring 176.00 John Morgan 176.00
Klas Eriksson 176.00 Marcel Siem 176.00
Seve Benson 176.00 Gary Lockerbie 176.00
Marc Warren 176.00 Michael Lorenzo - Vera 201.00
Michael Jonzon 201.00 David Dixon 201.00
Santiago Luna 201.00 Christian Cévaër 201.00
Jeppe Huldahl 201.00 Scott Drummond 201.00
Per-Ulrik Johansson 201.00 Richie Ramsay 201.00
Garry Houston 201.00 Jamie Donaldson 226.00
Matthew Millar 226.00 Taco Remkes 226.00
Marco Ruiz 226.00 Jean Van De Velde 226.00
Francis Valera 226.00 Carlos Del Moral 226.00
David Frost 251.00 Alexandre Rocha 251.00
Eduardo De La Riva 251.00 Christian Nilsson 251.00
Carl Suneson 251.00 Francois Delamontagne 251.00
Bernd Wiesberger 251.00 Sam Little 251.00
Lee Slattery 251.00 Alessandro Tadini 251.00
Pablo Martin 251.00 Marcus Higley 251.00
Kenneth Ferrie 251.00 Stuart Manley 276.00
Ake Nilsson 276.00 Barry Lane 276.00
Stephen Dodd 276.00 Antti Ahokas 276.00
Inder Van Weerelt 276.00 Steven O’Hara 276.00
Zane Scotland 276.00 Gary Clark 276.00
Anton Haig 301.00 Pedro Linhart 301.00
Daniel Vancsik 301.00 Anthony Snobeck 301.00
Simon Wakefield 301.00 Emanuele Canonica 301.00
Patrik Sjöland 301.00 Birgir Hafthorsson 351.00
John Mellor 351.00 Stuart Davis 351.00
Miguel Angel Martin 351.00 Benn Barham 351.00
Eirik Tage Johansen 351.00 Michael Curtain 401.00
Lorenzo Gagli 401.00 Juan Parron 401.00
Manuel Quiros 401.00 Phillip Price 401.00
Jonathan Caldwell 501.00 Chris Doak 501.00
Raul Quiros 501.00 Ignacio Sanchez-Palencia 501.00
José Carlos Gutierrez 501.00 Andrew Oldcorn 501.00
Gabriel Perez 751.00 Federico Colombo 751.00

Golf - 3 Balls

Open de Andalucia R 1 Oskar Henningsson/ Hoey/ Fabrizio Zanotti Book Closes 26 Mar 07:00
Oskar Henningsson 2.87
Michael Hoey 2.25
Fabrizio Zanotti 3.25
Open de Andalucia R 1 Bourdy/ Oliver Fisher/ Lucquin Book Closes 26 Mar 07:00
Gregory Bourdy 2.70
Oliver Fisher 2.50
Jean-Francois Lucquin 3.00
Open de Andalucia R 1 Dredge/ Wil Besseling/ Bickerton Book Closes 26 Mar 07:10
Bradley Dredge 2.25
Wil Besseling 3.10
John Bickerton 3.00
Open de Andalucia R 1 Lara/ Hansen/ Dyson Book Closes 26 Mar 07:20
Jose Manuel Lara 3.30
Soren Hansen 2.40
Simon Dyson 2.60
Open de Andalucia R 1 Montgomerie/ Miguel Angel Jimenez/ Kjeldsen Book Closes 26 Mar 07:30
Colin Montgomerie 3.10
Miguel Angel Jimenez 2.50
Soren Kjeldsen 2.70
Open de Andalucia R 1 McGinley/ Hansen/ Levet Book Closes 26 Mar 07:40
Paul McGinley 3.50
Anders Hansen 2.25
Thomas Levet 2.75
Open de Andalucia R 1 Wall/ Fasth/ Damien Mcgrane Book Closes 26 Mar 07:50
Anthony Wall 2.50
Niclas Fasth 3.00
Damien Mcgrane 2.75
Open de Andalucia R 1 Alejandro Canizares/ Lynn/ Havret Book Closes 26 Mar 08:00
Alejandro Canizares 2.75
David Lynn 2.70
Gregory Havret 2.80
Open de Andalucia R 1 Derksen/ Forsyth/ Otto Book Closes 26 Mar 08:10
Robert-Jan Derksen 2.25
Alastair Forsyth 3.25
Hennie Otto 2.87
Open de Andalucia R 1 Drysdale/ Danny Willett/ Branden Grace Book Closes 26 Mar 08:50
David Drysdale 2.87
Danny Willett 2.37
Branden Grace 3.00
Open de Andalucia R 1 Aguilar/ Gonzalez/ Lundberg Book Closes 26 Mar 11:50
Felipe Aguilar 2.40
Ricardo Gonzalez 2.40
Mikael Lundberg 3.75
Open de Andalucia R 1 Rafael Cabrera Bello/ David Horsey/ Broadhurst Book Closes 26 Mar 12:00
Rafael Cabrera Bello 2.50
David Horsey 2.50
Paul Broadhurst 3.30
Open de Andalucia R 1 Webster/ Molinari/ Lawrie Book Closes 26 Mar 12:10
Steve Webster 2.70
Francesco Molinari 2.37
Paul Lawrie 3.25
Open de Andalucia R 1 Dougherty/ Jose Maria Olazabal/ Lawrie Book Closes 26 Mar 12:20
Nick Dougherty 2.62
Jose Maria Olazabal 2.87
Peter Lawrie 2.70
Open de Andalucia R 1 F-Castano/ Hanson/ Pablo Larrazabal Book Closes 26 Mar 12:30
Gonzalo F-Castano 2.70
Peter Hanson 2.37
Pablo Larrazabal 3.25
Open de Andalucia R 1 Howell/ Estanislao Goya/ Garrido Book Closes 26 Mar 12:40
David Howell 3.20
Estanislao Goya 2.50
Ignacio Garrido 2.62
Open de Andalucia R 1 Ross McGowan/ Thomas Aiken/ Callum Macaulay Book Closes 26 Mar 12:50
Ross McGowan 2.70
Thomas Aiken 2.40
Callum Macaulay 3.20
Open de Andalucia R 1 Hedblom/ Storm/ Dodd Book Closes 26 Mar 13:00
Peter Hedblom 2.40
Graeme Storm 2.40
Stephen Dodd 3.75
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