Jimenez Wins Senior Debut But Focus Is On Ryder Cup

[April 21, 2014]  (Reuters) — Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez made his Champions Tour debut in style when he won the Greater Gwinnett Championship by two strokes over Germany's Bernhard Langer in Georgia on Sunday.

A week after finishing fourth at the Masters, Jimenez became the 18th player to win in his first start on the senior American circuit and only the third to lead from start to finish in a Champions Tour debut.

But the 20-time European Tour winner indicated afterwards that he would focus primarily on his home tour for the rest of the season as he tries to qualify for the Ryder Cup in September.

"I'm playing very well and now you don't know what to do, but I need to do my points for the Ryder Cup," Jimenez told the Golf Channel.

Jimenez, who turned 50 in January, will become the oldest European Ryder Cup member if he makes the team.

He has played four Ryder Cups, most recently in 2010.

Jimenez, who is ranked 32nd in the world, is already the oldest player to win on the European Tour.

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; editing by Steve Keating.)

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