It all started over a meal in Costa Navarino, southwest of the Peloponnese, last November. Sitting at the table were José María Olazábal, Emanuele Canonica and Lorenzo Gagli. The second edition of the Olazábal & Friends Charity Pro-Am had just ended and each was discussing their game plans for 2024. That’s when the plan emerged.
Gagli explains that he was left with a poor category in the Challenge Tour, that he will barely have opportunities to play and that he does not start the season until May. Voilà. “And how would you like to come with me as a caddie in the first three tournaments of the year on the Champions Tour and at the Masters?”, Olazábal proposed. “Where do I sign”, said Gagli.
That’s when one of the most beautiful experiences of the Italian golfer began, a professional with more than 200 tournaments in the DP World Tour, a victory in the Challenge and a very close relationship with his Spanish colleagues. He is one more of the Armada. “What a week! It has been spectacular, perfect. Like living a dream”, Gagli sums up to Ten Golf from his residence in Florence, already back after carrying Olazábal’s bag at the Masters and experiencing one of the great stories of the week in Augusta first hand.
It is the first time in his career that Gagli has worked as a caddie and he will never forget it. “It’s not just the fact of being in Augusta for the first time, it’s being able to do it with someone like Olazábal. He has given me an incredible gift, being by his side has been a dream, something really special. I have no words to thank him for the gift he has given me, it is something I will not forget”, he says excitedly.
Gagli affirms that he has learned many things alongside José Mari in these four weeks, the three of the Champions and the one of the Masters, sharing rounds, table and tablecloth with some of his idols like Ernie Els or Fred Couples. However, the biggest lesson he takes away is clear. “You have to make score with your own weapons”, he concludes. And he explains: “we made the same result in the Masters as Rahm and Koepka, for example, and there are other very good players who did not make the cut. Chema was hitting wood 7 second on the 1, wood 5 second on the 5, most of the time not reaching, wood 5 on the 11, wood 7 on the 14, wood 7 on the 17… Shots where others are hitting, on some occasions, the pitch. You have to play with your own weapons. It’s a lesson I take because I myself was one of those who paid a lot of attention to how hard others hit, that I was hitting a 7 iron while others grabbed the pitch. It affected me. I have realized that you have to play with your resources, with your game and make as few as possible with what you have”, he affirms.
Everything about Olazábal is amazing, but his short game belongs to another dimension. We don’t say it, Gagli himself confirms it. “Wow….!! Speechless. Of all the things I’ve lived, I’m left with the approaches I’ve seen from Olazábal in these four weeks. I swear, no comments. There were shots that I thought were not possible. It’s a challenge to the laws of physics. One thing is to see him play when you compete with him and another very different thing when you go in the bag. He left me with my eyes wide open every time. There were positions where I thought we were dead and he left them given. I have no idea how it’s done, but he has it. It’s another world. Of course you can practice, but there is something supernatural that distinguishes him from the rest”, he describes.
He was also amazed by his end of the tournament on Sunday, very touched with the pinching in his back. “After the second shot of the 13, from the forest, he told me that he had hurt his back, a lot. I don’t know how he finished. He was in a lot of pain, it was hard for him to move and he even lacked breath at times. Those last six holes were something amazing. What he has achieved this week, with the round on Friday with so much wind, the last six holes on Sunday… Everything is very special”, he emphasizes. Now, he trusts that he will recover well and be able to play in the coming weeks.
Lorenzo returns revitalized from the experience with Olazábal, with even more desire to train and return to the DP World Tour. “It has been an inspiration. I am very eager to return to training and prepare well. I think this year I will barely be able to play five or six weeks in the Challenge, but the idea is to arrive at the school in good shape and return to the European Circuit. I am convinced that I still have golf inside me to be at the highest level for a few more years”, he comments.
What he has no doubt about is that Olazábal can win tournaments again, specifically on the Champions Tour. “He played the four days of the Masters very well from tee to green. In the first three tournaments of the Champions he did not do as well from tee to green and finished in the top 15 and top 30. What he has done in Augusta should give him confidence in his game. If he maintains the level from tee to green and with his short game, I have no doubt that he will win again”.
And if the opportunity arises again, Gagli raises his hand to repeat the trip to the Masters with Olazábal. “If he wants I am willing”, he assures with a wide smile. “I would be delighted. At the end of the year we will sit down, see what I have, what I can play and for me it would be a pleasure”.
