Jiménez Makes it Five

Miguel Angel Jiménez continued his love affair with the Far East when he won his third title of the year in the region and fifth in total during 2004 by holding off a strong challenge from the defending champion Padraig Harrington and James Kingston in the Omega Hong Kong Open.

The Spaniard won the second event of The 2005 European Tour International Schedule, joint sanctioned with the Asian Tour, when he fired a final round 66, four under par, for a 14 under par total of 266, one clear of Irishman Harrington and Kingston of South Africa, who both closed with 67s. Denmark’s Thomas Björn and Thailand’s Thammanoon Srirot finished a further three strokes adrift on ten under par 270.

In a dramatic finale, Jiménez and Kingston were level with two holes to play and when Kingston holed a 35 foot birdie putt on the 17th the pendulum seemed to have swung his way.

But the Ryder Cup player followed him in from 25 feet and then Kingston hooked his drive up against a fence down the last. He had to take a penalty drop and bogeyed to fall back alongside Harrington, who played the last five holes in three under. He had a chance from 30 feet on the 18th to have a chance but left it short and had to settle for the 25 runners-up finish of his career.

Courtesy of www.europeantour.com