José María Olazábal (+9) has finished the Augusta Masters with a round of 72 strokes, par for the course. In any case, this is an exceptional result for a 58-year-old golfer, but even more so considering that he played more than three quarters of the round with a nagging pain in the lower part of his back, at the lumbar level.
The golfer from Fuenterrabía felt the lash on hole 5 and has been dragging it until the end of his round. The pain was quite intense at the time of the descent, shortly before hitting the ball. So much so that he had to take an anti-inflammatory provided by Camilo Villegas, his playing partner.
Put yourself in the situation: Olazábal is 58 years old, has only played three weeks in 2024, Augusta National is a very long course, he suffers a pinch shortly after starting the round… and he makes par. Superhuman. An absolute feat. At the time of finishing his round there were only twelve better results.
Chema leaves Augusta worried about his health, looking to the sky hoping it’s nothing serious, but very happy with the game he has displayed. He was like a child with new shoes. “I’m very happy. It’s been a long time, a very long time, since I felt this way on a golf course, since I didn’t hit the driver and the irons this way… I couldn’t tell you, phew, easily five, six years, if not more since I didn’t hit the ball this way,” he explains.
Asked about the possibility of winning on the PGA Tour Champions if he can maintain the game he has shown at the Masters, his face lit up. “I hope so, God hear you… I know that if I can bring out the golf I have inside, I do have a chance to win on the Champions, I know it and that’s what we’re working on, trying to bring out that golf and maintain it, that’s what I dedicate myself to,” he says. He is eager to see himself in that position again. He hasn’t won since the Mallorca Classic in 2005. “I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t won anything since then. Nothing is nothing, not the social tournament, not the club one, not with friends, they always wet my ear, so I would love to be there again in the fight to win,” he says with a smile.
Olazábal is clear that the work session with Butch Harmon two and a half weeks ago has been very important in this positive dynamic. “Without a doubt it has been key. More than discovering anything, Butch has confirmed that the problem was what I thought. It’s as important to confirm as to discover something new. The key was in the transition between the ascent and the descent. I was accelerating a bit and that was throwing off the movement. I have to give it more time to have a more neutral descent line. But of course, changing something that you’ve been doing for so many years is not easy. We’re on it,” he assures.
Olazábal is eager to play a tournament again to continue what has been seen these days in Augusta, although now he has the sword of Damocles of that muscular discomfort in his back. If it’s nothing, everyone crossing their fingers, Olazábal will be at home this week and then he will compete three in a row on the PGA Tour Champions.
Some data that corroborate the tremendous happiness with which José Mari leaves Augusta, beyond the concern for his back:
– He has hit 44 fairways this week. It’s his highest number since the 1998 Masters. Only on five occasions in his 35 appearances was he on the fairway more times throughout the week.
– He has hit 38 greens. It’s the highest number since 2014, ten years ago.
– It’s his best final position in the Masters since 2014.
– Today’s 72 strokes represent his best round since the second of the 2021 Masters.
