Golf:Veteran Spanish golfer Miguel Angel Jimenez will miss most of the first half of the golfing year after breaking his leg while skiing in southern Spain.
Jimenez, who turns 49 next Saturday, broke his tibia below the knee in his right leg while skiing in the Sierra Nevada range in his native Andalucia and underwent a successful operation in his home city of Malaga.
Last month he became the oldest winner on the European Tour when he won the Hong Kong Open at 48 years and 318 days, beating the mark set by Ireland’s Des Smyth.
“I was skiing in Sierra Nevada, I lost control and fell,” said Jimenez. “I felt a huge stab of pain and I knew straight away I had broken something. I broke the top of the tibia in my right leg, just where it meets the knee, and they put in two pins.
"It will take three, four or five months to recover and be able to return to competition. I was playing very well but ... these things happen in life."
A lover of fine wines and cigars and known for his trademark ponytail, he said he had fashioned a love of skiing some years ago and was well aware of the risks.
