José María Olazábal is the main protagonist of the European Legends Cup which starts on Friday at Golf Almerimar where 60 players from the Legends Tour gather, among them, eight winners of this season, winners of Majors and Ryder Cups. A luxury line-up for the first edition of this tournament that is played in the town of El Ejido, Almeria, which has started with a ProAm, in which the team of professional Keith Horne has won and in which footballers Jaime Astrain and Aleix Vidal have participated.
Olazábal, who arrives in Almeria accompanied by his nephew Joseba Torres, who has already turned professional, talks about his game, the past and the future of the young people who are coming on strong.
“I’m quite well health-wise, with my little things but I can’t complain. This year, between one thing and another, I’m playing little. I injured myself on the last day of the Masters at hole 13, and I was 5 weeks on the dry dock without being able to touch a club, then you start training a bit, but I lost almost two months.
I played very well the week of the Masters, I had a good feeling but it has cost me to recover that feeling and the game is suffering a bit. I had planned to play some more tournaments that I have decided not to go because I was not feeling well in the game; now I play this week and I’m going to the United States to play two or three more tournaments at the end of the season.
The game is not there. I’m working, but the drive kills me; the irons have not been problematic and it seems that the last few weeks are going a bit better but the driver is a big handicap, especially at these levels. We know it’s the Legends Tour, that we are Senior but people play very well and hit the ball very well. If you’re not fine enough with your game, you know that the chances of competing to be up there are limited.
I understand that it’s part of golf, we’ve lived it and we’ve been through it many times, I assume it as best I can and that’s it. I’m here obviously to have fun, we’re at an age where it’s not a question of breaking your head, but the goal is to be competitive and give yourself the opportunity to win.
I don’t miss the good times, I understand that it’s part of the process, it’s another stage, we can’t pretend to hit the ball like when I was at my best, it’s physically impossible but I’ve also been through major problems, I have a series of limitations, you lose flexibility even though you try to stay in shape, but it’s part of life. We all get older, lose faculties and I accept that naturally, but within the situation, you also see players with whom you have competed who continue to play well, who are at the top and that’s the little point where we want to be and we don’t get it at the moment.
When I don’t compete, I keep training, I love golf!, I’ve enjoyed a lot with golf and I keep enjoying despite the disappointments I’ve been getting lately, but I love to watch golf, even on television. Many people, even professionals, tell me, ‘aren’t you fed up with watching golf?’. Well, the truth is that I’m not, I love to watch PGA, DP, Ladies tournaments, this week we have the Solheim and I’ll try to watch it no matter what. Apart from that, I try to help a group of kids in San Sebastian, I play charity tournaments wherever I can, I have my charity Pro Am. Also, I love to walk in the mountains and in the winter time I enjoy a lot going hunting with my father.
It’s a luxury to be able to share these moments with the people you love, who because of my profession I’ve had to be away from, and as you get older you realize that those moments with your parents are quality, I appreciate them very much”.
About the new golfers
“There are very powerful young people coming. For example, Ballester. I don’t want to put pressure on anyone, and like him we have in Spain a few kids who point very well, girls too. I’ve never been in favour of setting high expectations, this sport is very complicated, there are a lot of factors that can change the course of things, but on paper we have a group of boys and girls who point very well. For years we have had kids who go to the United States to study at the university that allows them to combine studies and golf, and if everything goes normal, in a few years we will have a new batch of boys and girls who can do very, very well and can be at the highest level”.
In the bag he carries his nephew Joseba Torres who assures that “I have come to learn”
I’ve told him many times. At the end of the day you count on the fingers of one hand those who get to the top. The road is incredible. Getting there is very difficult, and staying there, even more so. I always told him that he first had to finish his studies and then do whatever he wanted. He has finished in the United States and as he has a lot of enthusiasm and desire, he has become professional, he has said that he wants to try it, at least try it and not regret not having done it. I always tell him that there are no shortcuts here, that there are many people in the world who want to dedicate themselves to this and only a few make it, that you have to work, be humble and it’s very complicated, because in addition to the technical challenge of the sport itself, there are other very important factors such as attitude, mental state, being mentally strong, being able to face moments of pressure, not only to win, but those hard moments when things don’t work out for you, weeks go by and you’re alone in a hotel, you wonder if it’s worth it… you have to be prepared for all that. And that’s what I tell him”.
“I’ve lived the best moments of golf”
“There’s no doubt that the atmosphere, the environment, is different. It has become very professional and has become a very high level profession, people are much more focused on what they have to do to be able to reach the top, while in our time it was different. It was almost an adventure, we turned professional maybe because there was no other option, and the infrastructure that was around is not the one now: we had to share rooms, flights, taxis, travel with your own practice balls because there were no balls to practice, a myriad of things that have changed. Now all brands sponsor players, even if they are amateur and can’t receive economic support they help you with material, which before was unthinkable. They have more facilities to be able to reach the top and everything much more professionalized, they have dietitians, psychologists, physical trainers, biomechanical studies where you know exactly which muscles are part of each moment of the movement, which parts of your body you have to work to improve. And to do all that you need a lot of time that we didn’t use before because we weren’t aware of all that. We socialized with others, we brought letters, we played tute or mus because we didn’t have the vision that we had to be in the gym and do everything they do now. Now you won’t see players in a card game after training.
I’m very clear that I’ve lived the best moments of golf. Economically not, because now we’re talking about astronomical sums of money, but taking that away, I’ve been lucky to meet the players I’ve met, to share experiences and experiences with all of them, to go out to play together, to travel together, we have a lot of anecdotes and stories that are unthinkable today. Who would think today, if you’ve won a tournament, say, “next week we all get together who are in the tournament and we all go out to dinner together to celebrate”, and at those dinners you laughed at one, the other, yourself, you shared experiences.
We didn’t have teachers, we had to manage ourselves, when you got out of the game you asked the one next to you, “I’m lost and I don’t know where the wind is blowing, can you look at some balls to see if you see something?” and that same week you were saying that on Tuesday, and on Thursday you competed against them. All that makes me have lived a great time.
It’s been a career that I’ve enjoyed a lot, that I would repeat if I had the chance without a doubt, with the same travel companions, I wouldn’t change anything in that sense, that continues and that continues”.
ProAm inaugural European Legends Cup
Today the ProAm has been played with which the European Legends Cup has started, in which the team captained by professional Keith Horne, winner in Zambia this year, with amateurs Francisco Javier Carmona, Sebastián Frías and Nicolás Parrilla, a pro am in which footballers Jaime Astraín and Aleix Vidal, two passionate golfers, have participated.
Tomorrow another ProAm will be played and on Friday the professional competition will start in the first edition of the European Legends Cup which has the support of the Legends Tour, Staysure, Real Federación Andaluza de Golf, Ayuntamiento de El Ejido, Bodegas Juan Gil, Titleist, Aquadeus and TOA Shoes, and is organized by JGolf.
