FIFTY-YEAR-OLD SPANIARD WITH HIS FOCUS ON THE FUTURE

                                   Miguel Angel Jimenez .. Ryder Cup place his goal in 2014

JIMENEZ MAKES US SENIOR DEBUT 

LATER THIS MONTH
FROM THE US CHAMPIONS TOUR WEBSITE
Miguel Angel Jimenez will make his Champions Tour debut in the second Greater Gwinnett Championship at TPC Sugarloaf, April 18-20. Next up on his busy international agenda is the Masters Tournament. 
Last week, Jimenez was player/captain of the European side in Malaysia for the Eurasia Cup, which ended in a draw. 
Jimenez is another of the 50-year-olds who doesn’t have time to look back. His standard remains high and his focus is on the future. 
The popular Spaniard has his sights set on earning a spot on Captain Paul McGinley’s European Ryder Cup squad for the September match at Gleneagles.

Jimenez, nicknamed the Mechanic for his preference for driving fast cars, including his gleaming red Ferrari, became the oldest winner in European Tour history when he won the 2012 UBS Hong Kong Open aged 48 and 318 days.

Jimenez has won 30 times worldwide and has finished top 10 eight times in major championships, including at least once in each of the four grand slam events. 
His best is a T2 at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach where Tiger Woods dominated. The next year, Jimenez tied for third in The Open Championship at Royal Lytham behind another American standout, David Duval. 
Jimenez got his American campaign started this year at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play (lost in the first round to Bill Haas, 4-and-3) and the WGC-Cadillac Championship. At Doral, he opened with 70, added a third-round 69 and was on the periphery of contending before a T13 finish.
“I love feeling that knot in my stomach, I love it,” he said at Doral.
Jimenez resumes his U.S. schedule next week at Augusta National Golf Club, where he has three top-10 finishes in 2001, 2002 and 2008. Then he will drive a couple of hours north to TPC Sugarloaf.

FIRST TIME IN 20 YEARS HE HAS MISSED FIRST MAJOR OF SEASON

TIGER WOODS WILL MISS MASTERS

 AFTER HAVING BACK SURGERY

 FROM ESPN.COM
Tiger Woods will miss the Masters after undergoing back surgery earlier this week for a pinched nerve that has been hurting him for several months, the world's No. 1 player said Tuesday on his website.
It will be the first time in 20 years that Woods will not play in the first Major of the season.
The microdiscectomy was performed Monday by neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Rich in Park City, Utah. The statement said Woods will begin "intensive rehabilitation and soft-tissue treatment" within a week, and the goal is for him to return to competition "sometime this summer."
"After attempting to get ready for the Masters, and failing to make the necessary progress, I decided, in consultation with my doctors, to have this procedure done," the 38-year-old Woods said in the statement.
"I'd like to express my disappointment to the Augusta National membership, staff, volunteers and patrons that I will not be at the Masters. It's a week that's very special to me. It also looks like I'll be forced to miss several upcoming tournaments to focus on my rehabilitation and getting healthy."

Woods clearly took the long view in opting for surgery, hoping that fixing his latest injury could get him back on course in more ways than one.
It is not yet clear whether Woods will return in time for the U.S. Open (at Pinehurst No. 2 on June 12-15) or the Open Championship (at Royal Liverpool on July 17-20).

"It's tough right now, but I'm absolutely optimistic about the future," Woods said in the statement. 
 "There are a couple [of] records by two outstanding individuals and players that I hope one day to break. As I've said many times, Sam [Snead] and Jack [Nicklaus] reached their milestones over an entire career. I plan to have a lot of years left in mine."
ESPN injury analyst Stephania Bell said that "there is a very good return rate following this type of procedure."
"Dr. (Robert) Watkins, who is known for treating many athlete for spine conditions out in Los Angeles, actually published a study where they looked at 80 professional athletes, across all sports including golfers -- 90 percent (were) able to return to their prior level of sport."
Bell estimated that the average recovery time for surgery like Woods had is 4 1/2 months.

"Tiger was gracious in keeping us updated of his condition and making us aware of his decision," Masters chairman Billy Payne said in a statement. "We wholeheartedly offered our best wishes for his immediate and long-term recovery. ... He is one of our most decorated champions and we look forward to his healthy return in 2015 and beyond."
Woods has been suffering from back spasms that were an issue during competition last fall and resurfaced again last month at the Honda Classic, where he withdrew during the final round.
He played the following week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, where he acknowledged that his back bothered him during the tournament and especially during the final round, in which he shot 78 -- his highest final-round score as a pro.
On March 18, two days prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods announced on his website that he would not play in that tournament, which he has won eight times, as his back problems had yet to subside.
On March 24, Woods said it was "too soon" to make a call on the Masters and that "was the frustrating thing about this."

Woods has played in every Masters since 1995, when he was an amateur. The following year, he missed his only cut at Augusta National just a few months prior to turning pro.
In 1997, in his first major championship as a pro, Woods won the Masters by a record 12 shots, the first of his 14 major titles. He went on to win the Masters in 2001, '02 (only the fourth to defend his title at Augusta National) and '05.
Since his last victory at Augusta, Woods has seven top-10 finishes in eight appearances and six top-5s, including last year, when he tied for fourth, four strokes behind winner Adam Scott.
As recently as a few months ago, Woods was very much anticipating this year's major championship venues. He has won six of his 14 majors on this year's tournament courses -- four at Augusta, one each at Royal Liverpool and Valhalla -- and has top-3 finishes in the two U.S. Opens played at Pinehurst.
"I've won at every one except Pinehurst," Woods said at his World Challenge event in December. "And I'm trending in the right way. I've finished second, third ... you get the picture, right? OK. So I'm looking forward to the major championships. They have set up well for me over the years, and I look forward to it."

APRIL 12 IS BIG DAY FOR US PGA TOUR PLAYER FROM INVERNESS

ABOUT-TO-WED KNOX ASKS SCOTTISH 

OPEN ORGANISERS FOR AN INVITATION 

Inverness-born, Florida-based US PGA Tour player Russell Knox is seeking an invitation that will enable him to bring his new bride to this summer's AberdeenAsset Management Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club's Balgownie links.
Knox will marry long-time girlfriend and former tennis professional Andrea Hernandez in Jacksonville, Florida on April 12.
The 28-year-old Knox has lived at Jacksonville Beach since he graduated after four years at Jacksonville University during which time he and Grantown-on-Spey's Duncan Stewart were
the golf team's leading players.
Stewart came back to his native Scotland and will compete on the forthcoming Challenge Tour. Knox stayed on in Florida and turned professional, making his way up the highest grade via American satellite circuits, including the Nationwide Tour which is now operating as the Web.com Tour.
Knox is six years younger than his fiancee who has twice before travelled to Scotland and if Knox gets an invitation to the July 10-13 European Tour event - he needs an invitation as he is not a member of the European Tour - she will travel with him.
Knox, who has played Balgownie as an amateur before he left for the States, said: "I've E-mailed the organisers of the Scottish Open, inidicating how much I would love to play in the tournament at Royal Aberdeen.
"They said they will be making a decision in a few weeks but I would really welcome an invitatiaon.
"I will bring Andrea with me and that would make the trip home to Scotland even more special.
Knox is now 36th on the US PGA Tour money table with earnings of just short of a million dollars, $19,879 short, to be precise.
Knox will not be adding to his earnings until after his wedding. He is taking a break from the weekly grind of the US PGA Tour.
"I'll come back from the wedding to play Hilton Head for a first time with the batteries recharged and new enthusiasm."

A LOT AT STAKE FOR 31 SCOTS PLAYING FOR THEIR IMMEDIATE FUTURES

TARTAN ARMY LINES UP IN EUROPR0 TOUR FINAL Q SCHOOL FIELD OF 240

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Scottishgolfview.com
A total of 31 Scots are in the huge field of 240 players who will tee off tomorrow (Wednesday) in the PGA EuroPro Tour Final Qualifying School over 54 holes and three days at Frilford Heath Golf Club, Oxfordshire.
There are cash prizes ranging from £2,400 to the winner down to £480 for the player who finishes 15th but the first target for players like Paul Lawrie's son Craig (pictured above), Inchmarlo's Paul Cormack, who excelled at one of the Stage 1 venues last week, and Ellon's Ross Cameron, to mention just three apirants,  is to make the cut which shrinks the field to 80 qualifiers for the final 18 holes.
If a player can do that then he will have a ranking for the £600,000 EuroPro Tour in 2014 when each of 15 three-round events will have a  jackpot prize of £10,000.
The higher the ranking, the more competitions a player will get into.
Another incentive is to make the top five in the Tour's Order of Merit at the end of the season. That will gain automatic promotion to the 2015 Challenge Tour.
So there is much at stake over the next three days for a lot of young hopefuls who will have to conquer their nerves as well as the Frilford Heath courses to survive.
The Scots in the field are:
Ross Bell, Sam Binning, Andrew Borg, Graeme Brown, Ross Cameron, Paul Cormack, Scott Crichton, Chris Currie, Jordan Findlay, Graham Forbes, Graham Guthrie, Neil Henderson, James Hendrick, John Henry, Scott Herald, Mark Hillson, Malcolm Isaacs, Ross Kellett, Mark Kerr, Craig Lawrie, Greg McBain, Jordan McColl, Fraser McKenna, Kris Nicol, Conor O'Neil, Eric Ramsay, Mark Rae, Graham Rankin, Robert Reynolds, Paul Robinson, Callum Trahan.

All competitors will play one round on each the Red Course and the Blue Course on alternate days, after which the field will be cut to the leading 80 players and ties who will play a final round on the Blue Course on Friday.
To view the tee times, click on the underlined courses:

Round One Tee Times: Red Course | Blue Course
 
Round Two Tee Times: Red Course | Blue Course

NOW LET'S HEAR WHAT THE PROS HAVE TO SAY

 Continuing the debate about why only one pro played in the NE Alliance foursomes .... prizemoney for pros .... slow play, etc (Scottishgolfview.com March 30-31).

E-mail from Hamish McNaughton
North-east Alliance member

I am sure every Alliance member dislikes slow play. This is a frustrating aspect of modern golf at all levels, pro and amateur, but I don't see pros avoiding competitions because of it. 

I suspect the main reason for pros, and some amateurs, deciding to miss the foursomes at Murcar Links was the host club's insistence that all matches should be played off mats (fairways and semi-rough ) even when this did not apply to Murcar Links members. No other links course is using mats 

I agree that in a perfect world more money would be available to pros, but not at a cost to the amateur members. But surely taking time to network with amateurs is of benefit to club pros.

After all they are running a business. The more customers they get to know the greater their chance of some out-of-season sales or lessons. Some seem to embrace the idea, some actually play because they enjoy the game.

Would like to hear what the pros who play in North-east Alliance competitions on a regular basis have to say.

Hamish McNaughton