What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago Miguel Angel Jimenez was holding aloft the Hong Kong Open trophy and had a beaming smile on his face; yesterday he couldn't get out of Fanling quick enough. A disappointing final round of 74 was the final straw for the defending champion as he finished one over par for the event.

Because of this, he wasn't the happiest of campers. 'This week has not been good for me and I'm not in the best mood really,' the Spaniard said.

'It's a beautiful day today but when you finish on one over par for the tournament it's not very nice. My putting all week was not very good. I've been playing well tee to green but I've not been able to hole any putts. In fact that's been my problem all year. It would have been nice to defend my title but I didn't play well enough to do that.'

One of the game's most recognisable characters with his trademark cigars and hair scraped behind into a ponytail, Jimenez could not reproduce the form that saw him beat Ireland's Padraig Harrington and South Africa's James Kingston by a stroke to win the Hong Kong Open for the first time last year. Now he will take a well-earned break for Christmas and recharge the batteries.

'Hopefully I'll be back in Hong Kong next year. But I've been away from home all year so it will be good to get back to Spain for a few weeks and relax,' he said. 'That's what I'm really looking forward to now.'

Famously, when asked what he wanted in the 2004 European team room at the Ryder Cup, Jimenez simply replied: 'Rioja wine, an espresso machine and cigars!'.

He may have underperformed at Fanling this week but at least he might get cheered up over the festive season, as there will be no problem knowing what Christmas presents to buy him.

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