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The Follow-Through: Jimenez turning heads wherever he plays

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Miguel Angel Jimenez has been a bit of a nomad with his schedule this season, but it has not slowed down his success.

The 50-year-old Spaniard made his Champions Tour debut in style this past weekend with a two-stroke victory at the Greater Gwinnett Championship.

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That title came a week after he turned heads with a fourth-place finish at the Masters and was his second victory of the season. His other win came at the European Tour's Hong Kong Open in December.

Jimenez also has played in all three of the WGC events this season, posting his best finish with a share of 13th place at the Cadillac Championship.

Those victories are two of his six finishes inside the top 15 in his 10 starts between all three tours this season.

"I'm 32 in the world ranking and I'm able to play all these kind of events," Jimenez said about his season. "The Champions (Tour) is coming probably too early to me. I don't know, but I will see next year what I'm going to do. This year, as you know, I have some goals and I want to get the spots on the venues and all the world champions and next year probably I will decide."

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One of those goals for this year is to qualify for the upcoming Ryder Cup.

Jimenez, the 2012 European vice captain, is not qualified for the European squad, but he is right on the brink of making his sixth appearance at the event.

In his previous five showings, he has collected a 4-8-3 overall record and earned 5 1/2 of a possible 15 points.

"You play (British) Open, you play Masters, you play the Champions here ... but the Ryder Cup is the event," Jimenez said. "It's a lot, it means a lot to me to be part of that. I love that kind of competition."

Jimenez has already been a part of two match play competitions this season. He was eliminated by Bill Haas in the opening round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February and captained the European team to a share of the inaugural EurAsia Cup in March, where he went 2-0-1 in three matches.

If he keeps up his stellar play over the next several months, there should be no doubt European captain Paul McGinley would make Jimenez the oldest European player to play in the Ryder Cup if he has not already qualified for one of the spots.

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In the meantime, Jimenez said he expects to take the next three weeks off before returning to action at the Open de Espana and won't return to American soil until the U.S. Open.

When asked how he can explain his current success at an age when many people are experiencing their mid-life crisis, Jimenez said, "I'm very happy with my age and the way I'm doing. The last 15 years my best golf is coming and I still playing my best golf."

If that is true, then the players on the Champions Tour better be prepared if he decides to join the tour full time.

Jimenez has already proven he can compete with the best players in the world, no matter where in the world he may be playing them.

[SportsNetwork.com]

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