Miguel Angel Jimenez, of Spain, tees off on the second hole during the final round of a Champions Tour golf tournament,Sunday, May 14, 2023, in Hoover, Ala. Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 5-under 66 to take the first-round lead at the Senior British Open on Thursday, five years after he became the first Spaniard to win the tournament. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Butch Dill
BRIDGEND, Wales (AP) – Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 5-under 66 to take the first-round lead at the Senior British Open on Thursday, five years after he became the first Spaniard to win the tournament.
Jimenez is two shots ahead of Alex Cejka and Mario Tiziani at Royal Porthcawl. Vijay Singh and Jeev Milka Singh are three shots off the lead.
“I am playing very solid on all parts of the game, from the tees to the greens, putting working also,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez, who edged Bernhard Langer by one shot at St. Andrews in 2018, made six birdies and one bogey.
“I was a little bit rushing myself there,” he said of his bogey on the 14th. “That was the only bad thing.”
Defending champion Darren Clarke’s 73 included a double bogey on the par-4 No. 1.
Langer, who won the last time the Senior British Open was held at Royal Porthcawl in 2017, also carded a 73. He is a four-time winner of this major and has been runner-up three times.
Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., who won the Masters in 2003, was tied for 53rd at 3 over.
The tournament is the last of five majors on the senior schedule. The winner gets into the British Open next year at Royal Troon.
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