HONG KONG (PA) -- A well-rested Miguel Angel Jimenez believes he is in perfect shape to stage a successful defense of his UBS Hong Kong Open title this week and make a strong start to the Race to Dubai.

The Spaniard decided to sit out the recent HSBC Champions -- the first event on the official 2009 European Tour calendar -- in order to recuperate from a tiring yet productive 2008 campaign. He kicked off last season with his victory in Hong Kong before securing a 15th career title at the BMW PGA Championship in May that ensured a return to the European Ryder Cup team.

The 44-year-old -- nicknamed 'the Mechanic' for his love of cars, including the Ferrari parked in his garage in Spain -- finished fourth on the Order of Merit, equaling his best finish to a season in two decades on the European Tour. And after two weeks without lifting a golf club, Jimenez feels ready to return to the course where he won by a stroke last year.

"It has been a long season with many long trips, and at the end of the year your body feels tired," he said. "I took two weeks off after the Volvo Masters and decided not to play the week of Shanghai but take a week off to recharge the batteries and do what I needed to at home.

"Now it is my first tournament of the season for the Race to Dubai."

Jimenez's victory last year was his second in Hong Kong and he is now looking to become the first European to lift the trophy three times.

"This is a place I have always enjoyed coming to since my first time here in 2004, when I won," he added. "This is a nice golf course; it is an old-fashioned course where you need to hit the ball very well from the tee and place the ball well for the second shots.

"Also it is great to be in Hong Kong and always nice to be back, and I hope to be able to defend the title properly."

Jimenez is joined in Hong Kong by a stellar field that also features major winners Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, John Daly and Spanish compatriot Jose Maria Olazabal.

Olazabal, 42, has been installed as one of the favorites to succeed Faldo as Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup captain. The Spaniard was vice-captain during the five-point loss to the Americans in Valhalla in September, but has hinted he would rather concentrate on playing than taking the main role in two years' time.

But Jimenez is confident the two-time Masters champion will captain Europe at some stage, although he expects Olazabal would prefer at least one more chance to be on the team as a player.

"He will be a future captain," said Jimenez. "We have been talking and he will maybe be the one after next.

"People like him, he is a great person, a great player and he will be a great captain when the time comes," he added. "First he would like to play again and that is the motivation for him."

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