THE MODERATOR: Miguel, welcome to the 2025 Senior PGA Championship. How are you feeling about your game and what's to come this week at Congressional?
MIGUEL ANGEL JIMÉNEZ: Yeah, well, I feel my game is pretty well at the moment, leading the Order of Merit at the Champions Tour, have two victories, almost every week in the top 10, and I'm feeling good. I think hitting it nice.
Well, looking about this week, I played only nine holes yesterday. I'm going to play the pro-am this afternoon to see the golf course in full. But what I see is today with that wind -- we have quite windy yesterday, and I saw the greens very, very, very, very, very, very tough.
No, there's a lot of movement around the greens, not much space to pitch the ball, and very fast and hard. Probably not as fast because of the undulations. Really when you're going uphill it's a little bit slower on the other side. But the greens are very hard yesterday. I don't know how they're going to prepare the golf course today or for the week, but I think it's going to be a good test because the golf course, the nine holes I played yesterday in that condition looks hard. It looks like it's going to be very difficult. You have to play very well here and be in the right place on the greens to score.
Q. Do you have any memories of previous times at Congressional, 2011?
MIGUEL ANGEL JIMÉNEZ: I think it was my last time here, I think.
Q. Any memories of that U.S. Open?
MIGUEL ANGEL JIMÉNEZ: I think the only memory -- of course I don't remember the golf course. There's no trees anymore there. I didn't play the back nine. The first nine I only remember only one hole, I think. But I need to see the back nine to -- but I remember there were a lot of trees, but there's no trees now. I think they're making a big change on the golf course.
The only thing I remember about 2011 is Rory McIlroy won. That's the only thing I remember.
Q. We keep talking about this, but as you get older, like the wine --
MIGUEL ANGEL JIMÉNEZ: Age. Maybe you can get older. I get age.
Q. Like a good barrel. So you play better. Something has happened, no? You keep working hard, too.
MIGUEL ANGEL JIMÉNEZ: Well, the thing is that we are in a different league now, also. I'm still hitting more or less the same distance, I'm still playing well with my results, but now I competing regularly in three-round tournaments with no cut. We're on the Champions Tour now. Only in the majors we have more similarity with the rest of the tournaments. But it's a different league.
I'm 61; obviously this is my 52nd year moving around the world, and playing a couple of times every year on the regular tour with the young boys, it's a big difference. Before the long hitting I was when I started on the Tour a medium long hitter, now with these guys I am short hitter, and I hit it longer than before. But you play with these young boys and they hit it past you for 30 meters.
Obviously we play different golf courses. Of course the setup and everything is different. It's a different league.
But I still enjoy what I'm doing, and I enjoy very much play here with my league, with the people.
Q. When we watch you play, you always have your cigars and you enjoy -- does anyone out here enjoy golf as much as you do right now?
MIGUEL ANGEL JIMÉNEZ: Well, I can tell you about myself, you know? I am not inside of other people's skins. I don't know how they're feeling.
But obviously I enjoy myself doing what I'm doing, and that's the only thing I know how to do properly in my life. I enjoy play golf, enjoy my time, have my cigar, have my glass of wine, but of course what other people don't see, I go in the morning to the gym, I work out, stretch myself, because if not, we will maybe not be talking here.
But of course I enjoy myself, and I believe in people enjoy what they're doing. If not, they would not be here.
Q. How much do you think it has to do with maturity, too, with your mental maturity, having a different approach to competition and how you approach things?
MIGUEL ANGEL JIMÉNEZ: Oh, completely, of course. I completely -- I feel a knot in my stomach; if not, I would not be here also. That's what I want to do. I want to compete, and my life is around the competition of golf. To me golf is a way of living, and that's what it is. The day that the pressure and the tension is going out from your stomach, I think it's done. Finished.
Q. You're playing two big tournaments back-to-back. If you're playing well, is that favorable for you?
MIGUEL ANGEL JIMÉNEZ: Well, we have back-to-back tournaments almost every week, playing two, three weeks in a row, then one, two weeks off. But the thing is having two majors in a row, I don't think it's a very good idea because for example what happened last week. The people had to finish yesterday and then they have to coming back here, and at the same time they have to qualify for the U.S. Open. I think it's not good to have two majors in a row. It's not good, not fair for the players because sometimes you have rain delays and things and you have to go out to finish the Monday, people no have time to prepare for the next tournament. I think it's not fair to have two majors in a row.
Then of course there's always weather superstition. Then maybe we'll have lucky and there's only two groups to finish yesterday.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports