José María Olazábal

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Olazábal and the second or maternal family name is Manterola.
José María Olazábal
 Golfer 
Personal information
Full name José María Olazábal Manterola
Nickname Ollie
Born (1966-02-05) 5 February 1966
Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st)
Nationality  Spain
Residence Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Career
Turned professional 1985
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 2001)
European Tour (joined 1986)
Professional wins 30
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 6
European Tour 23 (T8th all time)
Japan Golf Tour 2
Best results in major championships
(wins: 2)
Masters Tournament Won: 1994, 1999
U.S. Open T8: 1990, 1991
The Open Championship 3rd/T3: 1992, 2005
PGA Championship T4: 2000
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 2009 (member page)
Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year
1986
Prince of Asturias Award 2013

José María Olazábal Manterola (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse maˈria olaˈθaβal manteˈrola], Basque: [olas̻abal]; born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships.

In 2012 he captained Europe's Ryder Cup team to a narrow victory over the USA, 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. 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.[1]

Career

Olazábal was born in Hondarribia, a town in the Basque autonomous region of Spain. He burst onto the golf scene in 1984 as a junior, winning the (British) Amateur Championship aged 18. Then, 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, and he was a regular member of the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking (over 300 weeks).[2] Had Olazábal beaten Ian Woosnam at The Masters in 1991 (he finished second) he would have become the World No. 1. 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 more than 20 career titles on this tour.

Both of Olazábal's majors have come in the United States, namely The Masters in 1994 and 1999. These wins make him the only winner 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 (63), which he accomplished in the third round at Valhalla Golf Club in 2000.[3]

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.

José Maria Olazabal (in the bunker)

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,[4] 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.[5] After his team went down 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. 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.[6]

Olazábal was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 with 56% of the vote on the international ballot.[7]

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.[8]

Amateur wins (7)

Professional wins (30)

European Tour wins (23)

Legend
Major championships (2)
Other European Tour (21)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 7 Sep 1986 Ebel European Masters Swiss Open −26 (64-66-66-66=262) 3 strokes Sweden Anders Forsbrand
2 12 Oct 1986 Sanyo Open −15 (69-68-69-67=273) 3 strokes England Howard Clark
3 19 Jun 1988 Volvo Belgian Open −15 (67-69-64-68=269) 4 strokes United States Mike Smith
4 25 Sep 1988 German Masters −9 (69-72-70-68=279) 2 strokes Sweden Anders Forsbrand, Republic of Ireland Des Smyth
5 26 Feb 1989 Tenerife Open −13 (69-68-68-70=275) 3 strokes Spain José Maria Cañizares
6 30 Jul 1989 KLM Dutch Open −11 (67-66-68-76=277) Playoff England Roger Chapman, Northern Ireland Ronan Rafferty
7 7 May 1990 Benson & Hedges International Open −9 (69-68-69-73=279) 1 stroke Wales Ian Woosnam
8 24 Jun 1990 Carroll's Irish Open −6 (67-72-71-72=282) 3 strokes United States Mark Calcavecchia, New Zealand Frank Nobilo
9 16 Sep 1990 Lancome Trophy −11 (68-66-70-65=269) 1 stroke Scotland Colin Montgomerie
10 17 Mar 1991 Open Catalonia −17 (66-68-64-73=271) 6 strokes Northern Ireland David Feherty
11 22 Sep 1991 Epson Grand Prix of Europe −19 (64-68-67-66=265) 9 strokes England Mark James
12 23 Feb 1992 Turespana Open de Tenerife −20 (71-68-66-63=268) 5 strokes Spain Miguel Ángel Martín
13 1 Mar 1992 Open Mediterrania −12 (68-71-69-68=276) 2 strokes Spain José Rivero
14 6 Mar 1994 Turespana Open Mediterrania −12 (70-65-71-70=276) Playoff Republic of Ireland Paul McGinley
15 10 Apr 1994 Masters Tournament −9 (74-67-69-69=279) 2 strokes United States Tom Lehman
16 30 May 1994 Volvo PGA Championship −17 (67-68-71-65=271) 1 stroke South Africa Ernie Els
17 23 Mar 1997 Turespana Masters Open de Canarias −20 (70-67-68-67=272) 2 strokes England Lee Westwood
18 1 Mar 1998 Dubai Desert Classic −19 (69-67-65-68=269) 3 strokes Australia Stephen Allan
19 11 Apr 1999 Masters Tournament −8 (70-66-73-71=280) 2 strokes United States Davis Love III
20 14 May 2000 Benson & Hedges International Open −13 (75-68-66-66=275) 3 strokes Wales Phillip Price
21 6 May 2001 Open de France −12 (66-69-66-67=268) 2 strokes England Paul Eales, Italy Costantino Rocca,
New Zealand Greg Turner
22 2 Dec 2001 Omega Hong Kong Open^ −22 (65-69-64-64=262) 1 stroke Norway Henrik Bjørnstad
23 23 Oct 2005 Mallorca Classic −10 (69-65-70-66=270) 5 strokes England Paul Broadhurst, Spain Sergio García,
Spain José Manuel Lara

^ Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

PGA Tour wins (6)

Legend
Major championships (2)
Other PGA Tour (4)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 26 Aug 1990 NEC World Series of Golf −18 (61-67-67-67=262) 12 strokes United States Lanny Wadkins
2 18 Aug 1991 The International 10 points (5-6-8-10) 3 points Australia Ian Baker-Finch, United States Scott Gump, United States Bob Lohr
3 10 Apr 1994 The Masters −9 (74-67-69-69=279) 2 strokes United States Tom Lehman
4 28 Aug 1994 NEC World Series of Golf −11 (66-67-69-67=269) 1 stroke United States Scott Hoch
5 11 Apr 1999 The Masters −8 (70-66-73-71=280) 2 strokes United States Davis Love III
6 10 Feb 2002 Buick Invitational −13 (71-72-67-65=275) 1 stroke United States J. L. Lewis, United States Mark O'Meara

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2005 BellSouth Classic India Arjun Atwal, United States Rich Beem,
United States Brandt Jobe, United States 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
2 2006 Buick Invitational Australia Nathan Green, United States Tiger Woods Woods won with par on second extra hole
Green eliminated with par on first hole

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

Other wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (2)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
1994 Masters Tournament 1 shot deficit −9 (74-67-69-69=279) 2 strokes United States Tom Lehman
1999 Masters Tournament (2)1 shot lead −8 (70-66-73-71=280) 2 strokes United States Davis Love III

Results timeline

Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament DNP CUT DNP CUT DNP T8
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP T68 DNP T9
The Open Championship CUT T25 LA T16 T11 T36 T23
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP CUT DNP CUT
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament 13 2 T42 T7 1 T14 DNP T12 T12 1
U.S. Open T8 T8 CUT CUT CUT T28 DNP T16 T18 WD
The Open Championship T16 T80 3 CUT T38 T31 DNP T20 T15 CUT
PGA Championship T14 CUT CUT T56 T7 T31 DNP CUT CUT CUT
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament CUT T15 4 T8 30 CUT T3 T44 CUT CUT
U.S. Open T12 CUT T50 CUT DNP DNP T21 T45 DNP DNP
The Open Championship T31 T54 CUT CUT DNP T3 T56 DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship T4 T37 69 T51 CUT T47 T55 CUT DNP DNP
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Masters Tournament DNP CUT CUT T50 T34 CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP CUT DNP DNP
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP

LA = Low amateur
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 2 1 1 5 8 13 27 18
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 3 7 18 11
The Open Championship 0 0 2 2 2 9 21 16
PGA Championship 0 0 0 1 2 3 21 10
Totals 2 1 3 8 15 32 87 55

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. Williams, Richard (1 October 2012). "Europe seal Ryder Cup win with comeback of epic proportions". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  2. "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  3. Kelley, Brent. "PGA Championship Records". About.com. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  4. Critchley, Bruce (8 September 2008). "Top Ryder Cup pairings". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  5. "Jose Maria Olazabal named captain". ESPN. Associated Press. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  6. Donegan, Lawrence (21 September 1999). "Hope that the US can be put to Ryder flight". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  7. "Olazabal to be inducted in Hall of Fame". USA Today. Associated Press. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  8. "Prince of Asturias awards: Olazabal follows in Seve's footsteps". EuroNews. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
Awards
Preceded by
Iker Casillas
&
Xavi
Prince of Asturias Award for Sports
2013
Succeeded by
New York City Marathon
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