Staff WriterIf you like your golf with a bit of history, a bit of needle and a lot of sunshine, the Staysure Marbella Legends has just arranged your Sunday entertainment for you.
Home favourite Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Denmark’s Thomas Bjørn will go out in the final group at Aloha Golf Club locked together on eight-under-par, one cigar aficionado and one Ryder Cup captain turning this seaside senior bash into something that feels suspiciously like a Sunday at a major.
Home Hero Jiménez Keeps His Nose in Front
Jiménez, who probably knows every blade of grass at Aloha on a first-name basis, backed up his opening 66 with a battling two-under-par 70 to stay at the top on home soil. It wasn’t all flame-grilled fairways and Rioja-smooth putting; the 21-time DP World Tour winner had to work hard on a testing back nine, but he finished like a man who quite fancies lifting his own tournament in his own backyard.
“I was very satisfied with my round today,” said Jiménez. “To be top of the leaderboard and in the final group is very nice. I played solid apart from one hole, but I recovered well on the back nine and managed to finish at eight-under.”
The numbers back him up. Jiménez hit 11 of 14 fairways, found 14 of 18 greens in regulation and sprinkled in seven birdies against a single bogey – including a late flourish with three birdies on his closing three holes. It was the kind of finish that sends the local fans home dreaming and his rivals back to the range muttering.
For Jiménez, this week isn’t just another stop on the Legends Tour. He’s a member at Aloha, lives nearby, and his gallery is full of people who’ve known him since before the ponytail went grey.
“It would be amazing to win,” he added. “I’m a member here. All my family and friends are around. It would be very special.”
If ever there was a man trying to win a golf tournament and a family reunion at the same time, it’s Miguel Ángel Jiménez at the Staysure Marbella Legends.
Bjørn’s “Weird Round” Ends Up Exactly Where He Wants
Sharing top billing is Europe’s 2018 Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjørn, who signed for a composed 68 to join Jiménez on eight-under. It was the sort of round that might give a psychologist work but looks perfectly tidy on a scorecard.
“It was a weird round of golf today,” admitted Bjørn. “I got off to a nice start, three-under after five, then made a few bogeys around seven, eight and nine. I holed a nice bunker shot on 10 to get me back on track and then it was a nice cruise from there.”
That bunker shot on 10 felt like the hinge on which his day swung. From there, the big Dane settled into that familiar, slightly menacing cruise control we’ve seen in Ryder Cups and major championships.
And if you think Sunday’s final group will be frosty, think again. Jiménez and Bjørn are as much dinner companions as they are competitors.
“We spend a lot of time together. We’re great friends – we spent my birthday together on Wednesday night. Now we’ve got to go and play golf against each other. That’s how this game is.”
Birthday cake on Wednesday, bragging rights on Sunday. The Staysure Marbella Legends might be a senior event on paper, but this has all the makings of a proper duel.
Haeggman Leads the Hunters, Chasing Pack at Five-Under
Lurking just two shots back is Sweden’s Joakim Haeggman at six-under-par, alone in third and close enough to make the final pairing twitch if he finds something low on Sunday.
Right behind him is a tightly packed group at five-under that looks like a roll call from a particularly stacked European Tour yearbook: Johan Edfors, Bo Van Pelt, Jamie Donaldson, Carl Suneson, Stephen Gallacher and Gary Orr.
If the leaders so much as sneeze on Sunday, there’s a small army ready to pinch the trophy, the cheque and the headlines.
Donaldson Playing the Long Game
Jamie Donaldson knows a thing or two about delivering in Spain – and on big stages. The 2014 Ryder Cup star is very much in the hunt for a second Staysure Legends Tour title after another composed performance kept him within striking distance.
For Donaldson, this was less fireworks, more slow-burn thriller: steady, patient, and just dangerous enough heading into Sunday.
“Patience was key,” said the Welshman, who won at La Manga on his last visit to Spain at the back end of last year. “It was good to make a few birdies coming in. I made bogey on the last – I was in between clubs off the tee – but overall it was pretty good. You want to be thereabouts tomorrow and then you never know.”
“Thereabouts tomorrow” is exactly where you want to be when a home hero and a Ryder Cup captain start looking over their shoulders.
Suneson Lights It Up With the Round of the Day
Spain’s Carl Suneson went full local hero understudy on Saturday, producing the lowest round of the day – a sparkling five-under 67 – to join the group at five-under and throw his name firmly into the conversation.
For a former Spanish Open champion, this is familiar territory: biggish stage, Spanish fairways, leaderboard within reach. And with his family on site, there’s only one plan.
“I’m going to try to win. There’s no other way for me. I’ve got a bad ranking, so I’m going to go for it and enjoy it.”
No half-measures, no playing for status. Suneson is the sort of player who could easily turn the Staysure Marbella Legends into a home-soil heist if he can find another 67 on Sunday.
Monty, Olazábal and the New Guard Keep Things Interesting
Further down, the legends’ legends are beginning to stir. Eight-time European No.1 Colin Montgomerie shot a tidy 69 to move into the top 15 at three-under-par, which feels suspiciously like the classic Monty creeping into position while everyone else is watching the headline act.
Two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal added a 70 to sit at two-under heading into the final round, his presence alone lending Augusta weight to proceedings at Aloha.
Then there’s the new blood making themselves comfortable among the icons. Qualifying School graduate Anthony Grenier continues to impress on debut, carding a 71 to reach four-under-par and stay inside the top 10, keeping company with 2025 Order of Merit winner Scott Hend and Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg.
If you’re looking for the future of the Legends Tour, a good chunk of it is currently peering up the leaderboard, wondering how on earth you get past Jiménez and Bjørn on a Sunday in Marbella.
Free Golf, Big Names, and a Sunday Worth Watching
So here’s the state of play:
- A home favourite and Aloha member in Miguel Ángel Jiménez.
- A Ryder Cup-winning captain in Thomas Bjørn.
- Proven winners like Donaldson, Haeggman, Suneson, Gallacher and Van Pelt ready to pounce.
- Montgomerie and Olazábal lurking with intent.
- And a debutant and an Order of Merit winner refusing to go away.
All of it wrapped up in Mediterranean sunshine at Aloha Golf Club, with free entry for spectators on Sunday. For a supposedly “senior” event, the Staysure Marbella Legends is serving up a final round that looks anything but gentle.
The tournament concludes on Sunday at Aloha Golf Club and sits on a busy Legends Tour global schedule – 18 tournaments, three Majors, and more than €20 million in prize money during the 2026 season.
But for one afternoon in Marbella, all that matters is this: Jiménez versus Bjørn, friends turned rivals, trying to write the chapter that will be remembered long after the last cigar has gone out and the last bunker has been raked.
