miguel jimenez

How well-behaved were you at school?

(With a mischievous glint in his eye) “I was always good.”

Why is it that I find that extremely hard to believe?

“I don’t know. It’s the truth. I always loved sport. I played football like every kid played football and I also played volleyball. But golf was number one. We are seven brothers in my family, four of us are professional golfers, me being the only one who plays on tour.

Have you ever used your brother’s skills to help improve the mental side of your game?

“No. Anything I have learned about playing on the golf course and how to control myself I have learned through the years. I tried a psychologist for a couple of months a while ago, but I learned nothing I didn’t already know about myself. Now, I’m 42. You have to know where you are. I always feel comfortable where I am.”

How do you feel you’re playing right now?

“I am below one hundred per cent, but I’m hitting the ball OK. I just need to get some better results. To be at the top you need to have a union of different things. You need to be in good form physically, mentally, technically, emotionally and you have to feel that there’s a rhythm to your game. If one of these things is not in the right mood, you don’t have the right balance. You don’t have to be at one hundred per cent in all these things, but you need to be performing well, maybe 80 per cent in everything, not 100 per cent in one thing and 20 per cent in another.”

Which aspect of your game do you work on the most?

“I always try to work on my rhythm. In this age it is very hard, the ball travels so fast off the club it is very hard to make a nice draw or nice fade. Ten years ago the materials were not so advanced and it was easier to play the ball the way you wanted to. Now it is all about distance.”

It’s great watching you on the range because you seem to have a very different approach to many players. You’ll practice hitting lob wedge shots of maybe 10-15 feet, while other pros spend hours smashing the ball as far as they can down the range...

(laughing) “That’s because I can’t hit the ball as far as the others! No, but I love practicing. I like to play with the ball, make hooks, slices. It’s great. Control is what the game is all about to me.”

You’re probably the only member of the last European Ryder Cup team who hasn’t dedicated a serious amount of time to playing the PGA Tour in America...

“I was a member of the US Tour in 2001-2002 and I played the maximum I could play without being a member in ‘99 and 2000. Now I visit for the majors and maybe for the week before – it depends...”

It comes across as if you don’t really like America that much...

“No, not at all. I enjoyed myself there, the golf is fantastic, but I enjoy myself more here. Life there is good, it’s nice, but I could never get used to it. I prefer it in Europe, plus I can go home and see my family.”

In some ways you seem to have a totally different perspective to many other professionals on tour...

“How do you mean?”

Many players seem to practice or play and lock themselves into tournament mode, not really thinking about where they are or what’s really going on

outside their hotel.

“Yes, that’s true. I like to stay in a place where I can walk outside of the hotel and keep walking. I like cities, I like seeing people moving around. When you are at a tournament you have long days of warming up, practicing and playing, but I like to get the chance to for a walk, go to a nice restaurant, you know. You don’t have much time so you have to enjoy those simple things.”

» Miguel_Jimenez Part 2