Mr José María Olazábal Manterola (+6) has made the cut at the Masters of Augusta. The golfer from Fuenterrabía, a two-time winner of the green jacket, has made 73 strokes on a day of hellish conditions and has earned his presence over the weekend with the sweat of his brow. This is his twentieth cut in Augusta in 35 participations, the second he has achieved in the last ten years, the first since 2021.
If divine justice exists, today it was with Olazábal. We had to wait until the end to secure the cut, but the truth is that the 58-year-old veteran from San Sebastian had earned it with his golf, with his fight, with his grit, with his acceptance of a lacerating triple bogey on the 12th… In short, with his attitude of fighting every single stroke. His cut is a tribute to golf.
It is one of the toughest days remembered in Augusta due to the wind that has blown all day, only 16 players have been able to hand in a card better than Olazábal’s. He has played golf very well, he has hit wonderfully from the tee and, above all, the putt has reminded us again of that great champion who took home two Masters under his arm in the years 1994 and 1999.
Olazábal needed a day of golf like this in his life. He needed this boost. “It’s been a long time since I had so much fun on a golf course. I enjoyed it a lot. It was very beautiful,” he said shortly after signing the card, when he thought there was no chance of making the cut with his result of +6.
The reality is that it looked bad, but the bloodletting that the wind has caused today in Augusta has been criminal. Holes 16, 17 and 18 were playing very difficult and players were falling one after the other. Hideki Matsuyama was the last to open the door for Chema. A double bogey from the Japanese on hole 18, put the +6 result in the cut.
Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and Olazábal have been the three over 50s who have made the cut. The oldest is Vijay at 61 years old. Honour and glory for the Guipuzcoan golfer, who landed at the Masters with little confidence and what he has done in these two days, especially today, should serve to believe again. “I’m happy. At the beginning of the week I didn’t think I could hit it so well. I’ve done a lot of things right and the only blot was the shot on the 12th that ended in a triple bogey. It hurt a lot because it was the club, the 8 iron, a solid shot, low, but I didn’t hit it well and I went into the water,” he commented.
That triple bogey in the heart of the amen corner, the only thing that prevented him from finishing under par, is now an anecdote after the feat. Because yes, ladies and gentlemen, no matter how you look at it, that a gentleman like Olazábal, with how long Augusta is played today and with the dog wind that has blown on the first two days, has made the cut, is to stand up and clap your hands until the next day.
The downside this Friday at the Masters was for Sergio García (+7). An absolute short circuit in the final holes has knocked out the Borriol player. He finished with a bogey on the 15th, 16th, 17th and double bogey on the 18th to miss the cut by one. Very cruel and painful. It is the fifth cut that has escaped him in his last six participations in the Masters, specifically since he won the green jacket in 2017.
