Jose Maria Olazabal
Residence: Fuenterrabia, Spain
DOB: 05/02/1966
A shy, reclusive man – but one of Europe’s greatest Ryder Cup heroes, Jose Maria Olazabal had a distinguished amateur career winning the British Boys and British Amateur – where he famously beat Colin Montgomerie in the final.
He has won 17 European titles. One of a very rare group of people who has won more than one Major - Olazabal was able to don the famous green jacket by winning the Masters at Augusta National in 1994 – and again in 1999.
Made his Ryder Cup debut, aged 21, in 1987 and combined with Seve Ballesteros to form the most successful Ryder Cup partnership in the history of the competition, winning 11, halving two and losing only two of their matches together. His Ryder Cup partnerships with Seve Ballesteros are legendary but when the great Seve’s game began to fade, in 2006 he formed up a similarly successful partnership with fellow Spaniard, Sergio García.
Useless bit of trivia please. OK: Olazabal holds the world record for the ‘longest’ putt when on the 1999 European Ryder Cup team's flight to the US, he holed a putt which travelled the full length of the cabin. The ball was in motion for 26 seconds during which time Concorde had travelled 9.2 miles. Our biography photo of Jose was taken at the Doral Resort in Miami during the World Golf Championships in March 2007.
A continuing battle with rheumatism prematurely ended his 2007 season and he did not play after August. Was particularly disappointed to miss the inaugural Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China in November which was played over the course he designed and which bore his name – a layout which drew widespread praise.
In 2008 he was determined to battle back. He only managed to play in 6 tournaments and only made 3 cuts. His best finish came at the Castello Masters towards the end of the season.
Jose Maria Olazabal Club History
Below is a selection of clubs used by Jose Maria Olazabal throughout his career
Jose Maria Olazabal Tournament History
2007 World Golf Championship - CA Championship |
22-25 March - WGC - CA Championship - Doral Golf Resort and Spa - Blue Monster Course. Tiger Woods bagged another $1.35m for his two-shot win over Ryder Cup team mate Brett Wetterich at the Blue Monster Course at the Doral Resort in Miami, Florida between 22nd-25th March 2007. No one ever got closer than three shots to Tiger on the final afternoon. The World Golf Championships are played over five continents – and feature the top 50 players from the Official World Golf Rankings along with top finishers on the money lists of six Tours comprising the International Federation of PGA Tours (PGA TOUR, European Tour, Australasian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Asian Tour and Southern Africa Tour). The formats vary - match play, strokeplay and team - but the purses are always big! The WGC CA Championship is the fifth tournament Woods has won at least three times in a row. |
In Jose Maria Olazabal's bag...Even many tour players are switching to hybrid woods - but Olly is sticking to his blades - the again, he is considered one of the best long iron player in the world. These are pure blades - Macgregor M675 irons - with Olly's initials clearly stamped on the back. It's a Scotty Cameron headcover although not possible to see which model. The driver is Macgregor's latest MacTec NVG2.
(CLICK ON IMAGES TO SEE FULL SIZE VERSION). |
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