GULLANE, Scotland — His ponytail, which protrudes through the back of his ball cap like an oversized orange ferret poking its head through a cage, can conceal six dozen golf balls.
His stash of Cuban Cohiba cigars is so prolific he has made Castro weep with envy.
His collection of Rioja wines is vast enough to fill every wine glass at every restaurant in Barcelona — for the next 25 years.
His acrobatic practice-range stretching routine draws some of the world’s top gymnasts so they can take “how-to’’ notes.
He is Miguel Angel Jimenez. He is The Most Interesting Man in Golf.
At age 49 and less than a year removed from breaking his right leg while skiing with his girlfriend, Jimenez is leading the 142nd British Open at Muirfield through two rounds by one shot over Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson.
Jimenez, who plays most of his golf on the European Tour, may win the British Open tomorrow — or he may not. Chances are Jimenez probably will not win, because there are younger, more accomplished — and better — players lurking behind him.
But you know what? That’s OK with the colorful Spaniard, because his existence is all about the ride, not the destination, and that goes for life and for the long road trips he takes in his Ferrari.
This is a man with perhaps more flair than anyone in the sport, whose mantra is: “Golf is a beautiful game, and it has given me a beautiful life.’’
If a first career major championship is to come to Jimenez, one of seven brothers whose father was a mason in Malaga, he will become the oldest major championship winner in golf history.
When a reporter barked out, “How are you leading The Open at 49 years old?’’, Jimenez responded in his broken English, “Why? I have not the right to do it? Only the young people can do it?’’
Jimenez, who never has really come close to winning a major, looked and sounded utterly comfortable with his position.
When he was asked for the umpteenth time about pressure, he paused for a moment, leaned back in his chair, produced a long Cuban from his pocket and grinned with the cigar clenched between his teeth.
“It’s much better to feel when you were on the top of the leaderboard than when you were somewhere else on the leaderboard, no?’’ he said. “I feel relaxed, and I tell you, I love what I’m doing.’’
Players love Jimenez because he is such a character. A smile creased Phil Mickelson’s face yesterday when I asked him about Jimenez.
“He’s one of those guys I like to people-watch and just kind of watch him move, you know, see how he rolls,’’ Mickelson said. “I’m amused by his warm-up routine. I always get a kick out of that. I’ll actually arrive early to the course to watch it. He’s just an entertaining fellow.’’
This is how prominent European Tour player agent Chubby Chandler once described Jimenez to Cigar Aficionado magazine: “He lives his life and plays the game the way he wants to. He never rushes anything, he savors everything. He just inhales life, and he exudes it. I’ve never known someone more comfortable in his own skin than Miguel.”
Pressure?
“Of course I feel pressure,’’ Jimenez said. “Hey, anything that is important to you is going to make you feel pressure. But that’s what I’d like to feel on the golf course. I like to feel the pressure.’’
Asked whether he planned to do anything off the course last night because he was leading, Jimenez scoffed.
“You have to do the same things that you do every day,’’ he said. “I don’t need to do anything special, [like] because I’m leading now I have to go to bed at 10. Bulls—. I will go to bed when I feel like it — after I smoke my cigar.
“I’ve been 25 years on the Tour, 19 victories, and I would love to have a major in my career. Why not this one?’’