Today begins the Bankia Madrid Masters with the demanding course of El Encín Golf Hotel as a stage, a long course of 6,916 meters, par 72, which highlights its 122 bunkers and undulating greens that contain the greatest difficulty. Von Hagge’s latest design will be a challenge for the brilliant line-up of players who have gathered in Alcalá de Henares, headed by the world number one, Luke Donald.
The Englishman, who is defending his title, will tee off at 9.00 a.m. together with Alvaro Quiros -the first Spaniard in the world ranking- and the Italian Edoardo Molinari -the reigning world champion together with his brother Francesco- on the 10th tee, a great opening course. They will be followed by Matteo Manassero, one of the most brilliant young players on the European Tour, Thomas Aiken, reigning champion of the Spanish Open and Ross Fisher, member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team. At 13.30 on the 1st tee, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, host of the tournament with four titles to his name, Ryder Cup captain José Mari Olazábal, and Francesco Molinari, ranked 32nd in the world, will be present. Behind them, the American John Daly, the Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, winner of the Volvo Open in China, and the Swede Peter Hanson, member of the Ryder Cup team.
Yesterday the Pro-Am was played in which 44 teams participated, including the one formed by Luke Donald, the president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre and Javier Ballesteros, son of the legendary Cantabrian golfer. Numerous fans and journalists, especially British, followed with great interest this match in which the enormous resemblance between Javier’s swing and that of his father’s did not go unnoticed.
Donald gave his first press conference yesterday, as did José Mari Olazábal and Álvaro Quirós.
Luke Donald was very excited to share a team with Javier Ballesteros, as Seve was his great idol as well as that of several generations of European golfers.
“I love being back in Madrid, a lot of good things have happened to me since I won here and I wanted to come back to support the Bankia Madrid Masters.
“It’s not easy to combine the two Circuits, but when you play well and are always in the fight, as is happening to me, you enjoy a lot and have more energy. It’s also important to rest and now that my second child is about to be born, I’m going to take a few weeks to recharge my batteries for the end of the season. I want to play Sun City, the Race to Dubai and the Australian Masters.
“Although I live in the United States, I am very clear that I never want to miss the Ryder Cup and for that I have to play the European Tour. Besides, I think that playing in different countries has made me a better player.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Tiger is back among the best in the world. He’s playing again tomorrow and it looks like he’s recovered from his injuries. He’s had several months off and will have been able to work on his swing, just as happened to me, who took several months off to improve my game and I’m reaping the rewards. Tiger will most likely play his full schedule next season so he will climb back up the rankings.
“Olazábal is going to be a great captain for the Ryder Cup team. The names Olazábal and Ryder Cup go hand in hand. He lived many Ryders with Seve and has the same passion as him. I am sure he will bring all that passion to the team and will know how to motivate the players very well to win”.
JOSÉ MARI OLAZÁBAL
“I am feeling better, yesterday was very traumatic and it was just a small scare, but today my back did not hurt, I just felt my body a little stiff. According to what the doctors told me, I had a muscle spasm that possibly caused the pinching of a nerve that goes from the spine to the intercostal area. I was on the practice round on the 2nd green and for a moment I lost track of time. When I arrived at the clubhouse I was much better.
“I have been in Chicago for four days, but I could not see the course where we will play the Ryder Cup, it was raining a lot. Yes, the team hotel has been resolved. At the moment I don’t have a very intense activity as captain, but everything will change from next spring. As for the players, there is still a lot of time left, in a year anything can happen, those who are playing well now may be worse and the other way around.
“With the players I will be myself. I know I will speak from the heart because of the experiences I have from the Ryder Cup. In Wales I said what I said because I felt that way and hopefully I can motivate the players.
“I would like to be competitive again, to be at the top and from time to time, give a scare to those who come behind, that’s the goal. I see positives in my recovery. Even though I missed three cuts from Gleneagles to Holland, I noticed some improvements.
“I have to improve with the irons because I don’t leave them close enough and that is costing me a lot of strokes. Nowadays there is no margin to miss much, if you see the difference between the leader and the cut it is usually about 6 strokes.
“The biggest difficulty of this course is on the greens, it is what will require more attention. You have to leave the ball in the right place, otherwise you’re left with a very complicated putt.”
ÁLVARO QUIRÓS
“Whether the course suits my game or not is something we’ll see on Sunday, but if I’m in the top 40 in the world I’m supposed to be able to win on any course. I actually have an advantage on a couple of holes, but there will be 20 other players who do as well. One of those holes is the par-5 11th, which has a very big bunker and you have to hit about 280 yards to get past it. With the temperature we have and the altitude, 7,000 meters, it is not crazy. The other one could be the 18th, also par 5, with water on the right. If I take the fairway, I can hit the green with much less club than most.
“I’ve been out of action for seven weeks, four of them injured. I was able to play last week and I’m correcting details of the swing, I’ve had some silly mistakes that are from lack of competition.
“I am very excited to play the World Cup, I have never played this tournament representing Spain. I want to make a good push at the end of the season in which there are very good tournaments: Portugal I have already won, Andalucía Masters in Valderrama (well, the statistics say that I will not make the cut…, he jokes), the HSBC and the final of the Race to Dubai. My goal is to finish in the top 30-35 in the world. In recent years the goal was the top 50”.
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