José María Olazábal

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José Maria Olazábal
Personal Information
Birth February 5, 1966 (1966-02-05) (age 42)
Fuenterrabia, Spain
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg)
Nationality Flag of Spain Spain
Residence Fuenterrabia, Spain
College None
Career
Turned Pro 1985
Current tour PGA Tour (joined 2001),
European Tour (joined 1986)
Professional wins 29 (PGA Tour: 6, European Tour: 22, Other: 2)
Best Results in Major Championships
Wins: 2
Masters Won 1994, 1999
U.S. Open T8: 1990, 1991
British Open 3rd/T3: 1992, 2005
PGA Championship T4: 2000

José María Olazábal (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.

Contents

[edit] Career outline

Olazábal was born in Hondarribia, a town in the Basque Country region of Spain. He burst onto the golf scene in as a junior, winning The (British) Amateur Championship aged eighteen. Then, in his rookie professional season of 1986, he finished second on the European Tour Order of Merit aged just twenty. 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 ten of the Official World Golf Rankings (over 300 weeks).[1] Had Olazábal beaten Ian Woosnam at The Masters in 1991 (he finished second) he would have become the World number one. He was unable to play in 1996 due to a foot injury but he recovered and recorded further top ten placings in the Order of Merit in 1997, 1999 and 2000. He has more than twenty 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.[2]

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 two million dollars and came twenty-fourth 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 fifteen of the world rankings.

Olazábal was a member of the European Ryder Cup team in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2006. He had a famous partnership with fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros and formed a similarly successful partnership with Sergio García in 2006.

Olazábal also 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 1,270mph, travelled 9.232 miles, beating U.S. golfer Brad Faxon's previous record of 8.5 miles, set in 1997.

[edit] Amateur wins (7)

  • 1983 Italian Open Amateur Championship, Spanish Open Amateur Championship, British Boys Amateur Championship
  • 1984 The Amateur Championship, Belgian International Youths Championship, Spanish Open Amateur Championship
  • 1985 British Youths Amateur Championship

[edit] European Tour wins (22)

The European Tour recognised the three U.S. based majors in 1998, so Olazábal's 1999 Masters victory counts as a European Tour win, but his 1994 Masters title does not.

[edit] PGA Tour wins (6)

Major championships are shown in bold. Olazábal's 1999 Masters win also counted as a European Tour title.

[edit] Other wins (2)

[edit] Major Championships

[edit] Wins (2)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner Up
1994 The Masters 1 shot deficit -9 (74-67-69-69=279) 2 strokes Flag of the United States Tom Lehman
1999 The Masters (2) 1 shot lead -8 (70-66-73-71=280) 2 strokes Flag of the United States Davis Love III

[edit] Results timeline

Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Masters 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
The Masters 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
The Masters CUT T15 4 T8 30 CUT T3 T44 CUT
U.S. Open T12 CUT T50 CUT DNP DNP T21 T45
The Open Championship T31 T54 CUT CUT DNP T3 T56 DNP
PGA Championship T4 T37 69 T51 CUT T47 T55 CUT

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

[edit] Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

  • Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1987 (winners), 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997 (winners), 1999, 2006 (winners)
  • Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Spain): 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999 (winners), 2000 (winners)
  • World Cup (representing Spain): 1989, 2000
  • Four Tours World Championship: 1987, 1989
  • The Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2000 (winners), 2002, 2003, 2005 (playing captain)

[edit] Personal

Olazábal stated, before the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final, that he did not mind whether Manchester United or Chelsea won it, as he was a Liverpool supporter. He told BBC 5 Live: "I don't mind if Chelsea or Manchester United win. My favourite team is Liverpool, they have a few Spanish players."[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
  2. ^ PGA Championship Records
  3. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Europe | Champions League final as it happened

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Masters champions

1934 Horton Smith • 1935 Gene Sarazen • 1936 Horton Smith • 1937 Byron Nelson • 1938 Henry Picard • 1939 Ralph Guldahl • 1940 Jimmy Demaret • 1941 Craig Wood • 1942 Byron Nelson • 1943-45 Cancelled due to World War II • 1946 Herman Keiser • 1947 Jimmy Demaret • 1948 Claude Harmon • 1949 Sam Snead • 1950 Jimmy Demaret • 1951 Ben Hogan • 1952 Sam Snead • 1953 Ben Hogan • 1954 Sam Snead • 1955 Cary Middlecoff • 1956 Jack Burke, Jr. • 1957 Doug Ford • 1958 Arnold Palmer • 1959 Art Wall, Jr. • 1960 Arnold Palmer • 1961 Gary Player • 1962 Arnold Palmer • 1963 Jack Nicklaus • 1964 Arnold Palmer • 1965 Jack Nicklaus • 1966 Jack Nicklaus • 1967 Gay Brewer • 1968 Bob Goalby • 1969 George Archer • 1970 Billy Casper • 1971 Charles Coody • 1972 Jack Nicklaus • 1973 Tommy Aaron • 1974 Gary Player • 1975 Jack Nicklaus • 1976 Raymond Floyd • 1977 Tom Watson • 1978 Gary Player • 1979 Fuzzy Zoeller • 1980 Severiano Ballesteros • 1981 Tom Watson • 1982 Craig Stadler • 1983 Severiano Ballesteros • 1984 Ben Crenshaw • 1985 Bernhard Langer • 1986 Jack Nicklaus • 1987 Larry Mize • 1988 Sandy Lyle • 1989 Nick Faldo • 1990 Nick Faldo • 1991 Ian Woosnam • 1992 Fred Couples • 1993 Bernhard Langer • 1994 José María Olazábal • 1995 Ben Crenshaw • 1996 Nick Faldo • 1997 Tiger Woods • 1998 Mark O'Meara • 1999 José María Olazábal • 2000 Vijay Singh • 2001 Tiger Woods • 2002 Tiger Woods • 2003 Mike Weir • 2004 Phil Mickelson • 2005 Tiger Woods • 2006 Phil Mickelson • 2007 Zach Johnson • 2008 Trevor Immelman
v • d • e
2006 European Ryder Cup Squad
v • d • e
Sir Henry Cotton Rookies of the Year
1960 Tommy Goodwin • 1961 Alex Caygill • 1962 No Award • 1963 Tony Jacklin • 1964 No Award • 1965 No Award • 1966 Robin Liddle • 1967 No Award • 1968 Bernard Gallacher • 1969 Peter Oosterhuis • 1970 Stuart Brown • 1971 David Llewellyn • 1972 Sam Torrance • 1973 Pip Elson • 1974 Carl Mason • 1975 No Award • 1976 Mark James • 1977 Nick Faldo • 1978 Sandy Lyle • 1979 Mike Miller • 1980 Paul Hoad • 1981 Jeremy Bennett • 1982 Gordon Brand, Jnr • 1983 Grant Turner • 1984 Philip Parkin • 1985 Paul Thomas • 1986 José María Olazábal • 1987 Peter Baker • 1988 Colin Montgomerie • 1989 Paul Broadhurst • 1990 Russell Claydon • 1991 Per-Ulrik Johansson • 1992 Jim Payne • 1993 Gary Orr • 1994 Jonathan Lomas • 1995 Jarmo Sandelin • 1996 Thomas Bjørn • 1997 Scott Henderson • 1998 Olivier Edmond • 1999 Sergio García • 2000 Ian Poulter • 2001 Paul Casey • 2002 Nick Dougherty • 2003 Peter Lawrie • 2004 Scott Drummond • 2005 Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño • 2006 Marc Warren • 2007 Martin Kaymer