Darren Clarke smoked the opposition in the Open at Royal St George’s this week, scoring 5 under for the tournament. Miguel Angel Jiminez smoked a cigar throughout the contest and is (to me) much more of a legend.
The weather was as miserable as it gets and all the participants deserve a soggy pat on the back for even completing the course. Clarke was constantly duelling with second place Phil Mickelson for the Claret Jug, dropping shots and picking them up again to eventually finish on 70 for the day.
It was an impressive display from Clarke to win his first major title in the game, carrying a trademark smile from start to finish too. Youngster, Rickie Fowler also impressed, finishing with a Par tournament. Fowler is forced to wear horrific outfits as part of his Puma sponsorship and because of his affinity with his university colours, these outfits all come in bright orange – he looks like a cross between an Easy Jet employee and a Chewit.
Miguel Angel Jiminez stole the show though with his casual, cigar smoking approach to the Open. In the fiercest of conditions, Jiminez puffed his way through all 18 holes to finish on +7. His poor performance didn’t matter though, he looked like Castro on Tour and carried the image in such a way that will inspire young golfers to take up heavy smoking – what a guy!
Sport can only benefit from such characters – I’d love to see Sam Allardyce munching a Big Mc in the Upton Park dugout or Andy Murray having a whiskey between sets at Wimbledon. Happy Gilmore is one of the greatest sport-related comedies ever made but Adam Sandler’s unique protagonist is exactly what the game needs, Jiminez is (in my opinion) the first step towards a better golfing generation.
I understand traditionalists will be gagging at such a suggestion but you can keep your silly pants and ‘Quiet Please’ signs. Cigars are cool and help Jiminez control the stress of the game – it beats bottling everything up and eventually crashing your car during an argument over how many porn stars you’ve slept with, ay Tiger?
Tournament winner Darren Clarke, also enjoys an in-game cigar but Jiminez has just got that Cuban/Mexican/Portugese look that makes it look much cooler (he’s Spanish by the way)!
