Jimenez secured his third European Tour victory of the year, following wins in Dubai and France, after shooting a 4-under 67 for a final 21 under total of 263. Molinari also shot a 67 to finish second, while Italian teenager Matteo Manassero was third, two shots back, after carding a 68.

Despite his convincing victory margin, the 46-year-old Jimenez faced a testing spell during the final round. After leading by three shots going into the final round, the Spaniard extended that advantage to six as he covered his first nine holes in 4-under. But in the space of four holes that lead was cut to just one stroke as Molinari produced birdies at the 12th and 14th holes, and then holed a 2-foot eagle putt at the par 5 15th.

With Jimenez having bogeyed the 14th, there was a chance that Molinari might produce a late dash for the line for the second weekend running. At the Johnnie Walker Championship, he birdied the last three holes to come from behind and win.

Jimenez, however, produced a superb up and down after hitting a tree at the par 3 16th, which Molinari bogeyed after finding a green side bunker. The Spaniard then birdied the 17th to ensure a long awaited victory in the Swiss Mountains. It was his 22nd appearance in the European Masters and his best previous finishes had been second place in 1993 and 2004.

“It was not easy,” Jimenez said. “At one point I was six ahead of Edoardo, but at the 14th I missed the fairway with my drive and went into a bunker, missed the green with the third shot, and missed a putt for a par. “That was a lot of misses and Edoardo hit two superb shots to two feet at the 15th where I struggled just to make par. But it feels good to win after so many visits to these mountains where not only had I finished second twice but also been in contention many times. So I really wanted to come here and win this tournament.”

The 17-year-old Manassero, appearing in his sixth tournament as a professional, won  $161,445. That took him past the $250,000 earnings target to qualify for his first full Tour playing card in 2011. Manassero could not hide his delight, saying: “I am now a full member of the European Tour for the first time, which is great. It has been my goal since I turned professional earlier this year, something I wanted to do and making my card is fantastic. South Korea's Noh Seungyul finished fourth after a 67 took him to 13-under, three shots behind Manassero.  
 

In Norton, Massachusetts, Jason Day and Brandt Snedeker played in far different conditions Saturday and wound up with a share of the lead halfway through the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Snedeker went from the rain showers of Hurricane Earl to breezy conditions Saturday morning in his second round and had a 7-under 64. The wind got stronger throughout the afternoon for Day, who did well to shoot 67 and join Snedeker atop the leaderboard.

For all the fretting over weather giving half the field a good break, it turned out to be a push. Of the top 18 on the leaderboard, it was evenly split with players who had to cope with rain and who got the worst of the wind.

Tiger Woods turned his game around at the right time.

In jeopardy of missing the cut and missing out on the rest of the FedEx Cup playoffs, Woods didn’t hit a bad shot through six holes and played bogey-free for the first time in more than a year for a 6-under 65 that left him in the middle of the pack. Woods, who started in a tie for 87th, moved up to a tie for 29th and was seven shots behind with 36 holes to play.

Day, in the 36-hole lead for the second straight week in these playoffs, and Snedeker were at 12-under 130. They were one shot ahead of FedEx Cup leader Matt Kuchar (65) and Charley Hoffman (67), with Luke Donald (67) another shot behind.

Defending champion Steve Stricker (68) made it through another round without a bogey and was at 9-under 133, while Phil Mickelson (65) started hitting fairways and making putts and was in the group at 8 under.