September 4. Noon. Thirty-something degrees in the shade. Paseo Marítimo de San Pedro Alcántara (Marbella). Scorched. And there she is, as if nothing. She receives a tribute from the local authorities for her sporting career. Azahara Muñoz, who has been through the toughest sporting competition, is used to endure the unbearable heat, but … something happens. Her voice breaks, tears struggle to flood her cheeks… What’s the matter?
The undaunted Azahara is about to collapse when, in her thank you speech, she talks about the efforts and unconditional support that her parents have always given her since she started playing golf as a child.
He’s spending a few days on vacation with his family in his native Marbella, but that doesn’t mean neglecting his training. Far from it. We ask him to make an appointment to take some photos and we have to insist repeatedly and strongly that he finally gives in and spends a little time with us the next day. The reason for his almost numb resistance? He doesn’t want to disturb, even for a few minutes, his hard training sessions.
We meet at Valderrama, the flagship of Spanish golf, on the greens where the best players in the world have fought hard to try to win the Ryder Cup, the American Express World Championship, the Volvo Masters…
There she is, the best Spanish professional golfer, hitting balls on the driving range where Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Greg Norman, Sergio García, Olazábal, Seve, Faldo… once practiced.
-How has your life changed since you won the Madrid Ladies Masters in your professional debut in October 2009?
-Well, it’s changed a lot…. Winning that tournament opened a lot of doors for me. For starters, I already had a Tour to play on the following year, so I played the LPGA School much more relaxed. It also gave me a lot of confidence…. I realized that I could also win at the professional level. I had been playing great all summer, I won the British and so on, but you never know how things are going to turn out at the professional level.
-What happened to you last season to break your upward streak since 2010 on the LPGA Tour? You went from 9 top 10s in 2012 to just 3 in 2013, your average score per round from 70.8 to 71.5 strokes and your earnings dropped by almost a third.
-I went almost 10 months without seeing my trainer…. That hurt me a lot. And the ball got bigger and bigger and I lost confidence. But you’re also comparing my best year with the following year, which in the end was as good as the previous ones. 2012 was very good in winnings because I won a very big tournament. But last year ended up being practically as good in winnings as the other years; I also won a tournament in Europe and closed the year with a second place in Taiwan, where I was very close to winning. The first few months were bad, but since the Solheim everything has been great.
-This year it seems that the waters are back on track and we are seeing the best Azahara again: two second places, two fourths in your last two appearances, eight top 10s? (after this interview she won the French Open)
-The truth is that this year is being incredible. I’m playing like never before. Hitting the ball great and, above all, I feel very comfortable in the field, with confidence and enjoying a lot. I’m very happy with the year…. And I really want to finish it well.
-Seventh at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, twelfth at the British Open, fourth at the LPGA Championship, and all this season? Do you see more and more feasible to win a major?
-I think so. My game is becoming more and more complete. Besides, I always try to improve… The things that have not gone well or that I see that they fail me, then I put myself with Marcelo to them. All these tournaments that I’m close to winning and that didn’t work out in the end have helped me to learn. It is not easy to be there either… But I hope to get it someday. It would be a dream.
-Three victories so far (Madrid 2009, Open de France 2013 and Base Match Play Championship in 2012). How many more narrowly missed?
-I think I’ve had seven second places in the LPGA so far. Maybe in two of them I didn’t have a chance, but in the others I did. And in some third and fourth places too. But, as I told you, you learn from everything first…. Sometimes the desire I have can get the better of me. But I feel better and better in those situations and I love them. I enjoy them. So hopefully another one will come soon.
-Looking at the world rankings, you can see that Asian players no longer dominate the top positions as they did until recently (three against three Americans, two Europeans, one Australian and one New Zealander in the top ten). Why do you think this is so?
-I don’t really know why. I think we’ve learned that you have to work as hard as they do. Talent counts, but so does work. So we’ve all started to train more and try to improve our weaknesses. At least I have!
-Beatriz Recari, Carlota Ziganda, Belén Mozo… How do you see the careers of your compatriots in the LPGA Tour?
-Beatriz has won several times, and Carlota and Belen I think they will explode soon. As soon as they have a good tournament, when they gain confidence, everything will become easier for them. They are very good and can win.
-The sponsorship crisis has taken its toll on the LET. What future do you foresee for this circuit?
-I don’t know. It’s a pity. I play whenever I can. The thing is that we have so many tournaments now in the LPGA that it’s super complicated. I hope it gets better because I wouldn’t like to see how they keep losing tournaments.
-You studied psychology, has that knowledge helped you when it comes to competing?
-Everyone asks me the same question…. Well, no. I didn’t study sports psychology. For that you have to do a master’s degree. I focused my subjects on developmental psychology. I studied development from baby to adolescents, diseases and so on.
-With so much time away from Spain, what do you miss about your country?
-A lot of things, but especially my family. I am very familiar and it hurts me a lot to be always far from them. But we see each other whenever we can and with skype and messages it gets along much better.
-What are your most vivid memories of your first golfing steps at San Pedro Golf and Guadalmina?
-I remember how much fun we had. We were a big group of kids and after school we would go and play whatever we wanted. I think that’s why I was hooked from the beginning. On the weekends it would be late at night playing soccer, kicking, kicking…. We had a great group. I was very lucky with that. And then we would all go to tournaments in a big bus, we had a great time!
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