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COVERAGE: Jimenez Overcomes Firestone Heat, Alker to Conquer Kaulig Championship
AKRON, Ohio — Miguel Angel Jimenez is known for his quirky warmups, his dances when he aces a hole and his sword homage to Chi Chi Rodriguez.
But after emerging victorious over Steven Alker on the second playoff hole on Sunday’s Kaulig Companies Championship — and surviving a heat index at Firestone Country Club that reached 104 degrees — the 61-year-old Spaniard simply needed a victory cigar.
It would be around 40 minutes later when Jimenez would finally dance, upon finding out it was he, not Bernhard Langer, who became the first golfer 60 or older to win four PGA Tour Champions events in the same season, and he did it by winning his first senior major since 2018.
“Well, it’s very special,” Jimenez beamed. “I played very well this year, but coming in this third major of the year, I’ve been playing very well. This week I win here and put my name on the side of all great names through the history of the golf tournament here on this beautiful golf course, probably one of the better golf courses we’ll play all year. No words to explain, fantastic.”
For quite a while it appeared that Sunday would be Alker’s day, especially down the stretch leading by two shots with two holes to play.
Some of Alker’s high points on the front side were birdies on 2 and 3 to counterbalance Jimenez’s fast start, but really it was on the sixth hole when he backpedaled in a long putt on the sixth hole.
The middle of his round sputtered as he tried to find his swing. While the result on 10 was a bogey, he had to make an up-and-down to save it and that seemed to build some momentum. It was a mental battle which he admitted led to some sloppy golf.
“I just had to slow things down,” assessed Alker. “Things sped up pretty quickly, started missing fairways. Luckily, I made some good putts. I putted great today. Just for me I just had to slow things down and try and get back in the swing. As I said, I hit some nice shots coming in.”
Despite Alker’s inability to find a birdie for several holes, Jimenez was also unable to find his shots, especially with his putter, which clearly could have been a source of frustration.
Despite all of this, it appeared as though it would be a two-horse race between Jimenez and Alker, but Stewart Cink entered the conversation toward the midpoint of the back nine, a couple of shots behind the lead.
Cink had the opportunity for more on the signature par-5 16th, but instead left scratching his head with a bogey, halting what previously was a mistake-free round. He birdied the final hole, but by then it was too late.
“I made a terrible mistake on 16, picked a really bad time to hit my worst iron shot of the week that just came out of nowhere,” Cink remarked. “You know, that’s just not a hole you can do that on, made bogey there and that was kind of it.”
While it felt like the golf tournament was Alker’s to lose, no one told that to Jimenez, who spoke to his caddie Clifford Botha and knew he needed birdies.
The two have known each other since 2012 and are friends both on and off the golf course. Jimenez said he believes Botha is what he needs on the course.
“He can make mistakes as I can make mistakes. We are humans; we are not machines, you know,” Jimenez pondered. “Sometimes we look like it. You know, is very important to me to have someone that you say I love him, and he loves me, and we understand each other very well. That’s very important.”
With both lockstep in needing to find birdies, Jimenez’s approach into 16 nearly found the water, but just narrowly stayed out and combined with Alker’s birdie, if it was viewed as a match play situation, the New Zealander would have been dormie.
The 17th hole is traditionally one of the hardest to birdie in this event, and Sunday was no different as seven circles out of 73 golfers made Jimenez’s task seem all the more challenging, except for one thing.
Jimenez was number eight.
Then came the 18th hole, when Alker putted first, with the chance to secure victory, but instead he was just off the mark and tapped in.
Jimenez went through his traditional putting route and when his playoff-clinching putt curled true, he raised his putter with his left hand.
He had done it, and both golfers headed back to 18 after signing their scorecard.
“I kept focused, shot for shot and just played, played the game,” explained Jimenez. “Trying to focus to make the best I can do, you know? A couple up-and-downs, two bogeys and then, as I say, I know I had to make birdie-birdie to have any chance. I make birdie on the 17th, gives you wings to go to 18th, you know, and then the rest is history.”
Alker’s approach on the first playoff hole hit a tree but fell shy of the green. His lag putt had to have just enough to get up the slope before feeding down the hole, a feat he executed to near perfection.
Jimenez had a chance to close the tournament then and there, but he was off the mark with a birdie putt and a second playoff hole was necessary.
Alker’s drive missed well right, meaning he would have to perfectly execute a punch shot. He would say just moments later he did not realize the ball came out how it did, but his 180-yard punch 6-iron settled on the green hole high.
Jimenez had a similar length putt as the first playoff hole, but had a small read from Alker, whose putt fell off the mark.
This time Jimenez would not miss and that brought the tournament to an end.
“Miguel, the way he finished, he just did Miguel things again, you know what I mean,” a classy Alker said in defeat. “So, kudos to him.”
This was Alker’s 17th runner-up finish on the tour in the event’s first playoff since 2018, when it was known as the Senior Players Championship. He does move up one spot to second in the Charles Schwab Cup money list.
Jimenez now has secured a spot in next year’s Players Championship on the PGA Tour, and he did it when his back was up against the wall, with late birdies giving him a shot at the title.
This result is Jimenez’s fourth of the season to date, adding to the Trophy Hassan II (where Alker also came in second), Hoag Classic and Principal Charity Classic, though he has one reminder when asked about those titles and besting Langer.
“Another record, good, no,” Jimenez offered with a toothy grin. “I didn’t finish, still counting. I’m still counting.”
