Meet The 'Mini Mechanic'

With 21 European Tour titles, two Ryder Cup wins and two majors among his seven Champions Tour victories, 55-year-old Miguel Ángel Jiménez casts quite the golfing shadow. Lest we forget the reigning Senior Open champion from St. Andrews also owns the unofficial title as the coolest cat in golf.

At 23, Miguel Ángel Jiménez Jnr has chosen the MENA Tour to forge his own pathway to professional golf prominence, as much as he enjoys playing in his father’s silhouette. - The “Mini Mechanic” is taller, leaner and longer than his old man, minus the trademark ponytail and Cohiba Siglo cigars. His second full season as a pro hasn’t started great – after scrapping through on the bubble at MENA Tour Q-School he finished T-62 at +9 in the season-opening Journey to Jordan-1 and then missed the cut at +10 in the Al Zorah Open. But like father, like son, Jiménez Jnr oozes confidence and believes it is only a matter of time before the lessons learned as a junior in golf-mad Málaga and later at Nova Southeastern University, a Division II school in Florida, will begin paying off. – WITH KENT GRAY

IT’S NOT A BAD THING HAVING A FAMOUS FATHER, obviously not, but sometimes it can be both [a blessing and curse]. You have to differentiate between the Miguel Ángel Jiménez, golfer, and the Miguel Ángel Jiménez, father. It’s good but sometimes it can be a lot of pressure. Sometimes when they announce you on the tee, you feel like you are representing your Dad. Sometimes you’ve got to get away from that and just focus on yourself.

HE MADE ME PUT THE JNR AFTER MY NAME.

We get some trouble, ‘hey, Miguel Ángel Jiménez is playing the MENA Tour?’. Nah, because of sponsors, his manager, I need to put the Jnr. I like it. I don’t mind it.

THE MAIN THING WITH THE EXPECTATIONS IS THAT I SET THEM MYSELF.