By IANS
New Delhi : Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez will join the Dubai-based Dane, Thomas Bjorn for this year’s Johnnie Walker Classic which tees off at the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon from Feb 28 to March 2. The Spaniard’s entry was confirmed Monday.
The European duo adds to the quality of the field, which already boasts of Australian Adam Scott, currently the world number seven, Vijay Singh (World No. 10), England’s Ian Poulter and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie.
On the home front, India’s number one golfer, Jeev Milkha Singh, will spearhead the local challenge when the Johnnie Walker Classic makes its debut in India. The other prominent Indians are Jyoti Randhawa and Shiv Kapur, all full members of the European Tour.
The 2008 Johnnie Walker Classic has also gained the all-important support of the Professional Golfers Tour India.
Jimenez, nicknamed “The Mechanic” as he has a great passion for red Ferraris, fired a four-under-par 68 at Bangkok’s Alpine Golf & Sports Club for a four-day total of 17-under-par 271 at the 2007 Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand, snatching the title from the big Dane whose chances dipped dramatically on the back nine en route to a 71.
Jimenez’s confidence-boosting victory sparked a rich vein of form and the pony-tailed Spaniard went on to record a further three wins on the European Tour that year to secure his place on the victorious European Ryder Cup team.
Since 2004, Jimenez has performed consistently well, winning twice in 2005 at the Hong Kong Open and Celtic Manor Wales Open. Only two months ago the 44-year-old secured his second victory in the UBS Hong Kong Open, winning by a shot from Korea’s K.J. Choi, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Sweden’s Robert Karlsson, signifying a return to his winning ways.
Bjorn boasts nine wins on the European Tour, with his last victory coming in May 2006 when he won the Nissan Irish Open at Carton House following a gritty comeback after he trailed the lead by nine strokes after the first round. His supreme consistency meant that for 12 years between 1995 and 2006 he never finished lower than 21st on the Order of Merit.
Both Jimenez and Bjorn will be looking for a win in India to boost their chances of qualifying for the Ryder Cup when Europe defends the famous trophy against the Americans at Valhalla in September. A victory for Jimenez would make him the third double winner of the Johnnie Walker Classic behind Tiger Woods and Ernie Els.
First played in Hong Kong in 1990, the Johnnie Walker Classic broke new ground by not only being the first tournament to be jointly sanctioned by the European, Asian and Australasian golf Tours, but also by being unique in that the event has been played in seven countries and at 12 golf clubs over the past 17 years.