José María Olazábal

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**José Maria Olazábal**
Personal Information

Birth:	5 February 1966, Fuenterrabia, Spain
Height:	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Nationality:	Spain
Residence:	Fuenterrabia, Spain
Career
College:	N/A
Turned Professional:	1985
Current Tour:	PGA Tour and European Tour
Professional wins:	29 (PGA Tour 6; European Tour 22; Other 2)
Majors:	The Masters (1994, 1999)
Awards:	The Amateur Championship 1984, Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year 1986

José María Olazábal (born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish professional golfer who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has won two major championships. He was born in Fuenterrabia, Spain.

1 Career outline
2 Amateur wins (7)
3 European Tour wins (22)
4 PGA Tour wins (6)
5 Other wins (2)
6 Results in major championships
7 Team appearances
8 References
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] Career outline

Olazábal burst onto the golf scene in 1986, when he finished second on the European Tour Order of Merit in his first season at the age of twenty. In his first nine seasons, he finished in the top 10 every year except two, including another second place in 1989, and he was a regular member of the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings. He was unable to play in 1996 due to a foot injury but he recovered and recorded further top ten placing in the Order of Merit in 1997, 1999 and 2000. He has more than twenty career titles on this tour.

Both of Olazábal's majors have come in the United States, namely The Masters in 1994 and 1999. He has been highly placed in The Masters on a number of other occasions. Olazábal shares the record for the lowest round in the PGA Championship (63), which he accomplished in the third round at Valhalla Golf Club in 2000.^[1]

In 2001 Olazábal began to play on the PGA Tour, while also retaining his membership of the European Tour. He had a solid year on the PGA Tour in 2002, when he won nearly two million dollars and came twenty-fourth on the money list, but has not duplicated the success he enjoyed in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. He has six career PGA Tour titles, five of them won before he became a full member of the Tour. In 2006 he made a return to the top fifteen of the world rankings.

Olazábal was a member of the European Ryder Cup team in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2006. He had a famous partnership with fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros and formed a similarly successful partnership with Sergio García in 2006.

Olazábal also holds the world record distance for a completed putt. During the 1999 European Ryder Cup team's Concorde flight to the United States, he holed a putt which travelled the full length of the cabin. The ball was in motion for 26.17s, during which time the Concorde, at 1,270mph, travelled 9.232 miles, beating US golfer Brad Faxon's previous record of 8.5 miles, set in 1997.

[edit] Amateur wins (7)

1983 Italian Open Amateur Championship, Spanish Open Amateur Championship, British Boys Amateur Championship
1984 The Amateur Championship, Belgian International Youths Championship, Spanish Open Amateur Championship
1985 British Youths Amateur Championship

[edit] European Tour wins (22)

1986 (2) Ebel European Masters Swiss Open, Sanyo Open
1988 (2) Volvo Belgian Open, German Masters
1989 (2) Tenerife Open, KLM Dutch Open
1990 (3) Benson & Hedges International Open, Carroll's Irish Open, Lancome Trophy
1991 (2) Open Catalonia, Epson Grand Prix of Europe
1992 (2) Turespana Open de Tenerife, Open Mediterrania
1994 (2) Turespana Open Mediterrania, Volvo PGA Championship
1997 (1) Turespana Masters Open de Canarias
1998 (1) Dubai Desert Classic
1999 (1) The Masters
2000 (1) Benson & Hedges International Open
2001 (1) Open de France
2002 (1) Omega Hong Kong Open (2001 calendar year, 2002 season)
2005 (1) Mallorca Classic

The European Tour recognised the three U.S. based majors in 1998, so Olazábal's 1999 Masters victory counts as a European Tour win, but his 1994 Masters title does not.

[edit] PGA Tour wins (6)

1990 (1) NEC World Series of Golf
1991 (1) The International
1994 (2) The Masters, NEC World Series of Golf
1999 (1) The Masters
2002 (1) Buick Invitational

Major championships are shown in bold. Olazábal's 1999 Masters win also counted as a European Tour title.

[edit] Other wins (2)

1989 Visa Taiheiyo Masters (Japan Golf Tour)
1990 Visa Taiheiyo Masters (Japan Golf Tour)

[edit] Results in major championships

Tournament	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	DNP	CUT	DNP	CUT	DNP	T8
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	T68	DNP	T9
The Open Championship	CUT	T25 LA	T16	T11	T36	T23
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	CUT

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
The Masters	13	2	T42	T7	1	T14	DNP	T12	T12	1
U.S. Open	T8	T8	CUT	CUT	CUT	T28	DNP	T16	T18	WD
The Open Championship	T16	T80	3	CUT	T38	T31	DNP	T20	T15	CUT
PGA Championship	T14	CUT	CUT	T56	T7	T31	DNP	CUT	CUT	CUT

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
The Masters	CUT	T15	4	T8	30	CUT	T3
U.S. Open	T12	CUT	T50	CUT	DNP	DNP	T21
The Open Championship	T31	T54	CUT	CUT	DNP	T3	T56
PGA Championship	T4	T37	69	T51	CUT	T47	T55

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

[edit] Team appearances

Amateur

Eisenhower Trophy (representing Spain): 1982, 1984
St Andrews Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 1984
Jacques Leglise Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 1982, 1984

Professional

Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1987 (winners), 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997 (winners), 1999, 2006 (winners)
Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Spain): 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999 (winners), 2000 (winners)
World Cup (representing Spain): 1989, 2000
Four Tours World Championship: 1987, 1989
The Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2000 (winners), 2002, 2003, 2005 (playing captain)