After a bumper weekend chocked full of European Tour action around the globe we take a look through the bags of UBS Hong Kong Open winner Miguel Angel Jiménez, and SA Open Champion Henrik Stenson, to see how they took their respective titles.
Both Hong Kong GC and the Serengeti Golf & Wildlife Estate posed completely different tests to their respective fields, but each played to the strengths of their eventual champions, with Jiménez’s accuracy from the tee and streaky putter proving once again to be suited to the Hong Kong layout, and Stenson’s length from the tee and pin point approach play ideal for the course in South Africa.
This was proved by their Genworth Financial Statistics from the week, with Jiménez ranking eighth in Driving Accuracy with 76.8 per cent, as well as finding 77.8 per cent of the Greens in Regulation to rank 12th in the field. His putting was also key, finding the hole consistently to average 1.719 and 28 to finish 14th in Putts per GIR and fifth in Putts per Round respectively.
Stenson, on the other hand, hit it much further from the tee in comparison to Jiménez, who only averaged 282 yards, compared to Stenson’s more powerful play that saw him up well over 300 yards. But it is not all power with the eventual SA Open Champion, and he proved that in finding 84.7 per cent of the GIR to rank second, which explains his slightly higher putting stats of 1.706 GIR (13th) and 29.8 Putts per Round (35th).
But aside from the numbers there are always going to be key moments in any tournament, especially the final round, and Stenson’s came at the turn on Sunday after a poor run that saw him bogey the sixth before a costly double at nine. But like any great champion, the Swede bounced back with a fine birdie at ten, and when he followed that with two more at the 16th and 17th the title was his by a seemingly comfortable three stroke margin,
Jiménez’s key run also came round the turn on the final day and, when being chased down by Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson Hed, the wiley old Spaniard posted a spate of birdies from the ninth to the 12th to pull clear and eventually win by a stroke.
As a result of this fine form Jiménez picked up his third win at the UBS Hong Kong Open, becoming the oldest winner in European Tour history, while Stenson picked up his first European Tour title since the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2007.
Here's what was in Miguel Angel Jiménez's bag:
Ball | Srixon, -Z Star- | ||||||
Shoe | Nebuloni | ||||||
Driver | Ping, i20 - 8.5° | ||||||
1st Fairway Wood | Ping, Anser - 14.5° | ||||||
2nd Fairway Wood | Ping, i20 - 18° | ||||||
3 - 9 Iron | Ping, Anser | ||||||
Pitching Wedge | Ping, Anser | ||||||
Sand Wedge | Ping, Tour Gorge - 52° | ||||||
Lob Wedge | Ping, Tour Gorge - 60° | ||||||
Putter | Ping, Anser 1 Milled |
Here's what was in Henrik Stenson's bag this week:
Ball | Titleist, Pro V1 X (11) | ||||||
Shoe | Footjoy | ||||||
Driver | TaylorMade, R11S - 9° | ||||||
1st Fairway Wood | Callaway, Diablo Octane Tour - 13° | ||||||
2nd Fairway Wood | Callaway, Diablo Octane Tour - 18° | ||||||
3 - 9 Iron | Callaway, RAZR Tour | ||||||
Pitching Wedge | Callaway, RAZR Tour | ||||||
Sand Wedge | Cleveland, 588 - 51° | ||||||
Lob Wedge | Cleveland, 588 - 58° | ||||||
Putter | Piretti, Prototype |
To view the European Tour equipment section, please click here.
To see a rundown of all the Genworth Statistics for this season, please click here.