José María Olazábal


José María Olazábal Manterola is a Spanish professional golfer from the Basque region who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships, both at The Masters.
In 2012 he captained Europe's Ryder Cup team to a narrow victory over the US, which seemed improbable at the start of the final day's play when the Europeans trailed 10–6. They came back to win 14½–13½.

Early life

Olazábal was born in Hondarribia, a town in the Basque autonomous region of Spain, the day after the golf course Real Golf Club de San Sebastian opened next to his family's home. His father Gaspar succeeded his grandfather as greenskeeper at the golf club, where his mother also worked. Olazábal began to hit golf balls at age 2 with a shortened club, and at age 6 he could practice on the course in late afternoons.

Amateur career

As an amateur, he represented Spain on all levels. He represented Spain in competing in the Eisenhower Trophy at 16 years of age, and again two years later, in 1982.
In 1984, he won The Amateur Championship at Formby Golf Club, Liverpool, England, at age 18, beating Colin Montgomerie 5 and 4 in the final. The year after, when he won the British Youths Open Amateur Championship, he became the first player to have won the British Boy's, Youth's and Amateur titles in a career.

Professional career

In his rookie professional season of 1986, he finished second on the European Tour Order of Merit aged 20. In his first nine seasons, he finished in the top 10 every year except two, including another second place in 1989. He was unable to play in 1996 due to a foot injury but he recovered and recorded further top 10 placings in the Order of Merit in 1997, 1999 and 2000.
He has won 23 career titles on the European Tour, which is ninth best all-time.
He was in the world top 10 for over 300 weeks between 1989 and 1995. Had Olazábal beaten Ian Woosnam at the 1991 Masters Tournament he would have become the World No. 1.
In 1990, Olazábal made a, at the time, rare visit to the PGA Tour, invited in a limited field to the NEC World Series of Golf at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. He opened with a course record 61, continued with aggregate course and tournament records after every round and finished with an 18-under 262 total, 12 strokes ahead of second placed Lanny Wadkins. After congratulating Olazábal, Wadkins joked that he wished Olazábal back to Europe immediately.
Both of Olazábal's majors have come in the United States, namely The Masters in 1994 and 1999. These wins make him one of only two winners of the Amateur Championship since World War II to have gone on to win a professional major. He has been highly placed in The Masters on a number of other occasions. Olazábal shares the record for the lowest round in the PGA Championship, which he accomplished in the third round at Valhalla Golf Club in 2000.
In 2001, Olazábal began to play on the PGA Tour, while also retaining his membership of the European Tour. He had a solid year on the PGA Tour in 2002, when he won nearly $2 million and came 24th on the money list, but has not duplicated the success he enjoyed in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. He has six career PGA Tour titles, five of them won before he became a full member of the Tour. In 2006, he made a return to the top 15 of the world rankings.
Olazábal was a member of Europe's Ryder Cup team seven times from 1987 to 2006. He formed a famous partnership with fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros that spanned many years, and formed a similarly successful partnership with Sergio García in 2006.
Olazábal captained the European team at the 2012 Ryder Cup for the defence of the trophy at Medinah Country Club in Illinois. After his team went down 10–4 during the second day and 10–6 going into the last day, he helped engineer the greatest ever Ryder Cup comeback with the European team eventually winning by 14½ points to 13½. Olazábal was very emotional with the win, saying in an interview that that was his number one happiest golf moment and happiest moment of his life. The win was inspired by his late friend Seve Ballesteros, to whom he dedicated the win. He confirmed afterwards that he would not consider himself for captaincy in the next Ryder Cup.
Olazábal holds the world record distance for a completed putt. During the 1999 European Ryder Cup team's Concorde flight to the United States, he holed a putt which travelled the full length of the cabin. The ball was in motion for 26.17s, during which time the Concorde, at 1,270 mph, traveled 9.232 miles, beating U.S. golfer Brad Faxon's previous record of 8.5 miles, set in 1997.
Olazábal was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 with 56% of the vote on the international ballot.
On June 19, 2013, Olazábal was presented with Spain's most prestigious sporting honor, the Prince of Asturias Award in recognition of his accomplishments as a player and leader of the 2012 Ryder Cup team. He is only the second golfer to be honored since the awards were launched in 1987; Seve Ballesteros was honored in 1989.

Amateur wins

PGA Tour wins (6)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
126 Aug 1990NEC World Series of Golf−18 12 strokes Lanny Wadkins
218 Aug 1991The International10 pts 3 points Ian Baker-Finch, Scott Gump,
Bob Lohr
310 Apr 1994Masters Tournament−9 2 strokes Tom Lehman
428 Aug 1994NEC World Series of Golf −11 1 stroke Scott Hoch
511 Apr 1999Masters Tournament −8 2 strokes Davis Love III
610 Feb 2002Buick Invitational−13 1 stroke J. L. Lewis, Mark O'Meara

PGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
12005BellSouth Classic Arjun Atwal, Rich Beem,
Brandt Jobe, Phil Mickelson		Mickelson won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Olazábal eliminated with par on third hole
Atwal and Jobe eliminated with par on first hole
22006Buick Invitational Nathan Green, Tiger WoodsWoods won with par on second extra hole
Green eliminated with par on first hole

European Tour wins (23)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
17 Sep 1986Ebel European Masters Swiss Open−26 3 strokes Anders Forsbrand
212 Oct 1986Sanyo Open−15 3 strokes Howard Clark
319 Jun 1988Volvo Belgian Open−15 4 strokes Mike Smith
425 Sep 1988German Masters−9 2 strokes Anders Forsbrand, Des Smyth
526 Feb 1989Tenerife Open−13 3 strokes José María Cañizares
630 Jul 1989KLM Dutch Open−11 Playoff Roger Chapman, Ronan Rafferty
77 May 1990Benson & Hedges International Open−9 1 stroke Ian Woosnam
824 Jun 1990Carroll's Irish Open−6 3 strokes Mark Calcavecchia, Frank Nobilo
916 Sep 1990Lancome Trophy−11 1 stroke Colin Montgomerie
1017 Mar 1991Open Catalonia−17 6 strokes David Feherty
1122 Sep 1991Epson Grand Prix of Europe−19 9 strokes Mark James
1223 Feb 1992Turespaña Open de Tenerife −20 5 strokes Miguel Ángel Martín
131 Mar 1992Open Mediterrania−12 2 strokes José Rivero
146 Mar 1994Turespaña Open Mediterrania −12 Playoff Paul McGinley
1510 Apr 1994Masters Tournament−9 2 strokes Tom Lehman
1630 May 1994Volvo PGA Championship−17 1 stroke Ernie Els
1723 Mar 1997Turespaña Masters Open de Canarias−20 2 strokes Lee Westwood
181 Mar 1998Dubai Desert Classic−19 3 strokes Stephen Allan
1911 Apr 1999Masters Tournament −8 2 strokes Davis Love III
2014 May 2000Benson & Hedges International Open −13 3 strokes Phillip Price
216 May 2001Open de France−12 2 strokes Paul Eales, Costantino Rocca,
Greg Turner
222 Dec 2001
Omega Hong Kong Open1−22 1 stroke Henrik Bjørnstad
2323 Oct 2005Mallorca Classic−10 5 strokes Paul Broadhurst, Sergio García,
José Manuel Lara

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
European Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11989KLM Dutch Open Roger Chapman, Ronan RaffertyWon with double-bogey on ninth extra hole
Chapman eliminated by par on first hole
21993Carroll's Irish Open Nick FaldoLost to par on first extra hole
31994Turespaña Open Mediterrania Paul McGinleyWon with birdie on second extra hole
41994Mercedes German Masters Seve Ballesteros, Ernie ElsBallesteros won with birdie on first extra hole

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

*Note: The 1989 Visa Taiheiyo Club Masters was shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

Other wins (1)

Wins (2)

Results timeline

LA = Low amateur
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament

Results in senior major championships

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

Amateur
Professional