Colin Montgomerie might be popping a cork today, too, given that the Top 2 in Switzerland this week are on his European Ryder Cup team. Jimenez earned the seventh of nine automatic qualifying spots. Edoardo Molinari finished second, a week after winning the Johnnie Walker Championship and earning one of Monty's three captains selections.
Monty's two other captain's picks? Luke Donald starts the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship in fifth place. But Padraig Harrington, perhaps Monty's most controversial choice given his terrible record in the past two Ryder Cups and his general lack of form lately, missed the cut in Boston.
But five of the players on Monty's team have now posted victories since the start of August. For Jimenez, it was his third European Tour victory of 2010 and 18th of his career.
Jimenez's win at the European Masters overshadowed the play of two young - very young - golfers who will most likely play large roles in the sport over the next couple decades.
Seventeen-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero finished solo third, and 19-year-old Korean Seung-yul Noh finished solo fourth.
Combined with his earnings in five previous European Tour starts since turning pro, Manassero earned enough today to gain fully exempt status for 2011. No going to Q-School for this kid. Earlier this year - when he was just a wee lad of 16 - Manassero set set a record as the youngest ever to make the cut in The Masters.
And what was Noh doing when he was 17? Winning on the Asian Tour and earning that circuit's Rookie of the Year award. Earlier this year, Noh earned his first European Tour victory, becoming the second-youngest winner in the tour's history.
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