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Among the competitors teeing up in the Spanish Open at Club de Campo in\nMadrid tomorrow will be a Spanish golfer who cannot count victory in that\ntournament among the 32 he has accumulated around the world. Aged 53, no one\nexpects Jos\u00e9 Maria Olaz\u00e1bal to break that particular drought this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Rahm, Cabrera Bello, Fernandez-Castano, Campillo, Quiros, Otaegui, Elvira.
The list of Spanish players that waited around to salute a Spanish legend 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com\/MegDtPi391<\/a><\/p>— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) 20 September 2019<\/a><\/blockquote>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHe turned pro in 1985 having become the only player to win the British\nBoys\u2019, Youths\u2019 and Amateur titles. (In the latter, he beat Colin Montgomerie in\nthe final.) Although he was a staunch supporter of the European Tour, his individual\ncareer highlights came in America \u2013 a second Masters in 1999 and, before all of\nthat, an astonishing win by 12 shots at the 1990 World Series of Golf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it is probably accurate to say that his golfing career to most will\nbe defined by the Ryder Cup, He made his debut at Muirfield Village, Ohio, in\n1987 in partnership with the inimitable Seve Ballesteros. As a\nfoursomes\/fourball team, the two Spaniards had a record of 11-2-2 against the\nUnited States. Simply, they were the greatest-ever Ryder Cup double-act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Olaz\u00e1bal played on three winning teams, for the last time in Ireland in\n2006, plus the one that retained the Cup for Europe after a tie in 1989. Then\nin 2012, again saving his best for the States, he was the captain of the\nEuropean side that came from 10-6 down overnight at Medinah to win the singles\nand claim the match by a point, his players and the European fans ostentatiously\nevoking the spirit of the great Seve, who had passed away the previous year. As\ngrand hurrahs go, it was one heck of a way in which to sign off on one of\ngolf\u2019s grandest stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Olaz\u00e1bal now plays a limited schedule on the Champions Tour in the States\n(eight starts in 2019, no top-20 finishes). It remains to be seen for how long\nhe will continue to play; he says so long as he enjoys the competition. It is\nlikely that he will gradually pay more attention to his work as a golf-course\narchitect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twenty years ago, I had a meeting with Mark McCormack, the man who\nfounded the International Management Group (IMG). It was a couple of days or so\nafter Olaz\u00e1bal had won that second Masters. As we were finishing up, McCormack\nsaid he presumed I was pleased about the outcome at Augusta. I said I was and\nadded \u201cperhaps more than you are, Mark, given that he\u2019s not a client of yours\u201d.\nHe grinned and then said, seriously: \u201cNo, I\u2019m pleased for him. All golfers will\ntell you that they aren\u2019t motivated by making yet more money but there are only\ntwo of them who mean it \u2013 [Ben] Crenshaw and Olaz\u00e1bal. They are different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
After Olaz\u00e1bal\u2019s goodbye at Wentworth, another victorious European Ryder\nCup captain, Thomas Bjorn, tweeted in tribute: \u201cThe greatest gentleman of them\nall.\u201d Which was a nice thing to say. And true. Jos\u00e9 Maria has been one of the\ngood guys of pro golf. On second thoughts, make that one of the great ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nYou can follow Robert Green on Twitter @robrtgreen and enjoy his other blog f-factors.com<\/a> plus you can read more by him on golf at robertgreengolf.com<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"