CALGARY — Sitting atop the Rogers Charity Classic leaderboard, Miguel Angel Jimenez can see the talented golfers right behind him in his rear-view mirror.
The 61-year-old Spaniard birdied the par 5, 18th hole to finish his up-and-down second round at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club on Saturday one shot ahead of Australian Richard Green.
“I’m very happy to be in this position,” said Jimenez, who carded his second straight round of 7-under 63 on the par 70, 7,092-yard layout. “I’m at 14-under par, one shot ahead, but you cannot sleep. Other people are playing very well. You can see the scores.”
Argentine Ricardo Gonzalez, American Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey and Australian Steven Alker are all sitting tied for third at 12 under after carding rounds of 63, 64 and 65, respectively.
Jimenez started his day with a bogey before getting on a roll with three straight birdies.
“I made some birdies on three, four and five — that gives you wings,” said Jimenez, who’s in search of his fifth PGA Tour Champions victory this season. “I will try to do my best. It would be amazing if I could make my fifth victory here.”
Jimenez then eagled the par 4, eighth hole when his nine-iron shot from the fairway hit the green close to the pin and spun back into the cup.
In addition to five more birdies on the back nine, Jimenez had two other bogeys.
Meanwhile, Green finished his front nine with four straight birdies before rolling in an eagle putt on the par 5, 11th hole.
“It was a little slow start, but once I got a bit of momentum going it was nice to make four birdies on the last four holes of the front nine to sort of just get things going nicely,” said Green, who finished second behind Ken Tanigawa at last year’s Rogers Charity Classic.
“I just kept the round going nice and steadily and the eagle on 11 was just perfect — driver and a seven iron to a foot. It was an easy eagle, which was great.”
Green added two more birdies, including one on the finishing hole, to card a round of 8-under 62 — one shot off the course record — to get within striking distance of Jimenez.
“Miguel’s obviously having an amazing year this year,” Green said. “He’s going to be tough to beat, so I’m going to have to play my absolute best golf. I’d have to say that today was pretty close to some of my best golf. If I can continue to do that, I’ll be very happy.”
After shooting 67 on Friday, Calgary’s Wes Martin followed up with a 68 in Saturday’s second round to finish as the top Canadian at 5 under.
“Today I felt less nerves, but the swing didn’t feel like it was on,” said Martin, who nonetheless had four birdies to go with just two bogeys.
His round also included a great par save on the finishing hole when he put his second shot in the water.
“The shot on 18 was kind of disappointing, but to make that save was huge,” said Martin, who hit his wedge shot close for a tap-in par after taking a drop in front of the water.
Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., and Gordon Burns of Holland Landing, Ont., both shot 69 on Saturday and are sitting at 1 under and even par, respectively.
Fellow Canadian Stephen Ames carded his second straight round of 71 to put him well back of the leaders at 2 over.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2025.
Laurence Heinen, The Canadian Press
