José María Olazábal is the main protagonist of the European Legends Cup which starts on Friday at Gofl Almerimar where 60 players from the Legends Tour will gather, including eight winners this season, winners of Majors and Ryder Cups. A luxury line-up for the first edition of this tournament to be played in the Almeria town of El Ejido, which began with a ProAm, in which the team of professional Keith Horne won and in which the footballers Jaime Astrain and Aleix Vidal took part.
Olazábal, who arrives in Almería accompanied by his nephew Joseba Torres, who has already taken the step to professional, talks about his game, the past and the future of the young players who are coming on strong.
‘I'm in pretty good health, with my little things but I can't complain. This year, between whistles and whistles, I'm playing very little. I got injured on the last day of the Masters on the 13th hole, and I spent five weeks in the dry dock without being able to touch a club, then you start to train a bit, but I lost almost two months.
I played very well the week of the Masters, I had a good feeling but it's taken me a while to get that feeling back and my game is suffering a little bit. I had planned to play some more tournaments but I decided not to go because my game wasn't good; now I'm playing this week and I'm going to the United States to play two or three more tournaments at the end of the season’.
‘The game is not there. I'm working, but the drive is killing me; the irons haven't been problematic and it seems like the last few weeks are going a bit better but the driver is a big handicap, especially at these levels. We know it's the Legends Tour, we're Seniors but people are playing really well and hitting the ball really well. If you are not good enough with your game, you know that your chances of competing to be up there are limited.
I understand that it's part of golf, we've been through it and we've been through it many times, I take it as best I can and that's it. I'm obviously here to have a good time, we're at an age where it's not a question of breaking your head, but the goal is to be competitive and give yourself a chance to win.
I don't miss the good times, I understand that it's part of the process, it's another stage, we can't pretend to hit the ball like when I was at my best, it's impossible physically but I've also gone through important problems, I have a series of limitations, you lose flexibility even though you try to be in shape, but it's part of life. We are all getting older, losing faculties and I accept that naturally, but within what the situation is, you also see players with whom you have competed who are still playing well, who are at the top and that's the point where we want to be and we don't get it at the moment’.
‘When I'm not competing, I'm still training, I love golf, I've enjoyed golf a lot and I still enjoy it despite the unpleasantness I've had lately, but I love watching golf, even on television. Many people, even professionals, say to me, ‘Aren't you fed up with watching golf? Well, I'm not, I love watching PGA tournaments, DP, Ladies, this week we have the Solheim and I'll try to watch it any way I can. Apart from that, I try to help a group of kids in San Sebastian, I play charity tournaments wherever I can, I have my charity Pro Am. I also love walking in the mountains and in the winter I really enjoy going hunting with my father.
It is a luxury to be able to share these moments with the people you love, because of my profession I have had to be away from them, and as you get older you realise that these moments with your parents are of quality, I appreciate them very much’.
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On the new golfers
‘There are some very powerful young players coming through. For example, Ballester. I don't want to put absolutely no pressure on anyone, and like him we have a few youngsters in Spain who are doing very well, girls too. I've never been in favour of setting high expectations, because this sport is very complicated, there are a lot of factors that can change the course of things, but on paper we have a group of boys and girls who are aiming very well. For years we have had kids going to the United States to study at university, which allows them to combine studies and golf, and if everything goes well, in a few years we will have a new batch of boys and girls who can do very, very well and can be at the highest level’.
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In the bag is his nephew Joseba Torres, who says that ‘I have come to learn’.
‘I have told him many times. At the end of the day you count on the fingers of one hand those who make it to the top. The road is incredible. It's very difficult to get there, and to stay there, even more so. I always told him that first he had to finish his studies and then he could do whatever he wanted. He has finished in the United States and as he has a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of desire, he has become a professional, he has said that he wants to try it, at least try it and not regret not having done it. I always tell him that there are no shortcuts here, that there are many people in the world who want to dedicate themselves to this and only a few make it, that you have to work, be humble and it is very complicated, because in addition to the technical challenge of the sport itself, there are other very important factors such as attitude, mental state, being mentally strong, being able to deal with moments of pressure, not only to win, but those hard moments when things don't work out, weeks go by and you are alone in a hotel, you wonder if it is worth it... you have to be prepared for all that. And that's what I tell you’.
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‘I have experienced the best moments in golf’.
‘There is no doubt that the atmosphere, the environment, is different. It has become very professional and it has become a very high level profession, people are much more focused on what they have to do to get to the top, whereas in our time it was different. It was almost an adventure, we turned professional anyway because there was no other option, and the infrastructure that was around is not what it is now: you had to share rooms, flights, taxis, travel with your own practice balls because there were no balls to practice with, an endless number of things that have changed. Now all the brands sponsor players, even if they are amateurs and can't receive financial support, they help you with equipment, which was unthinkable before. They have more facilities to get to the top and everything is much more professionalised, they have dieticians, psychologists, physical trainers, biomechanical studies where you know exactly which muscles are part of each moment of the movement, which parts of your body you have to work on to improve. And to do all that you need a lot of time that we didn't use before because we weren't aware of it all. We used to socialise with others, carry cards, play tute or mus because we didn't have the vision that we had to be in the gym and do everything they do now. Now you won't see players at a card game after training.
It is very clear to me that I have experienced the best times in golf. Not financially, because now we are talking about astronomical sums of money, but apart from that, I have been fortunate to know the players I have met, to share experiences and experiences with all of them, to go out and play together, to travel together, we have a lot of anecdotes and stories that today are unthinkable. Who would think nowadays, if you've won a tournament, to say, ‘next week we'll all get together in the tournament and we'll all have dinner together to celebrate’, and at those dinners you laughed at each other, at each other, at yourself, you shared your experiences.
We didn't have teachers, we had to manage on our own, when you went out of play you would ask whoever was next to you, ‘I'm lost and I don't know where the air is blowing me, can you look at some balls to see if you can see anything?’ and that same week you were saying that on Tuesday, and on Thursday you were competing against them. All of that makes it a great time for me.
It's been a race that I've really enjoyed, and I'd do it again if I had the chance without a doubt, with the same travelling companions, I wouldn't change anything in that sense, it goes on and on and on’.
