José María Olazábal is the main protagonist of the European Legends Cup that starts on Friday at Gofl Almerimar where 60 players of the Legends Tour are gathered, among them, eight winners of 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 players Jaime Astrain and Aleix Vidal participated.
Olazábal, who arrives in Almería accompanied by his nephew Joseba Torres, who has already turned 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 5 weeks in the dry dock without being able to touch a club, then you start to train a little, but I lost almost two months.
I played very well the week of the Masters, I had a good feeling but it has cost me to recover that feeling 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 was not good; now I am playing this week and I am 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 have not been problematic and it seems that the last few weeks are going a little better but the driver is a big handicap, especially at these levels. We know it’s the Legends Tour, we’re Seniors but people play very well and hit the ball very well. If you are not fine enough with your game, you know that the options to compete to be up there are limited.
I understand that it is part of golf, we have lived it and we have gone through it many times, I assume the best I can and that’s it. I am obviously here to have a good time, we are at an age where it is not a matter of breaking your head, but the goal is to be competitive and give you the opportunity to win.
I do not miss the good times, I understand that it is part of the process, it is another stage, we can not pretend to hit the ball as when I was at my best, it is physically impossible but I have also gone through major problems, I have a number of limitations, you lose flexibility even though you try to be in shape, but it is part of life. We are all gaining years, losing faculties and I accept that naturally, but within what is the situation, you also see players with whom you have competed who are still playing well, who are at the top and that is the point where we want to be and we do not get it right now.”
“When I do not compete, I continue training, I love golf, I have enjoyed golf a lot and I still enjoy it despite the disappointments I have had lately, but I love watching golf, even on television. Many people, even professionals, tell me, ‘Aren’t you fed up with watching golf? Well, the truth is 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. In addition, I 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, that because of my profession I have had to be away from them, and when you are getting older you realize that those moments with your parents are of quality, I appreciate them very much”.
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About the new golfers
“There are very powerful young people coming. For example, Ballester. I don’t want to put absolutely no pressure on anyone, and like him we have a few kids in Spain who are aiming very well, girls too. I have never been in favor 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 aim very well. For years we have had kids going to the United States to study at the university that allows them to combine studies and golf, and if everything goes smoothly, 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 he carries his nephew Joseba Torres who assures that “I have come to learn”.
“I have told you 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 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 face moments of pressure, not only to win, but those hard moments when things do not 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 him.
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“I have lived the best moments of golf“
“There is no doubt that the atmosphere, the environment, is different. It has become very professionalized and has become a very high level profession, people are much more focused on what they have to do to be able to reach the top, while in our time it was different. It was almost an adventure, we turned professional because there was no other option, and the infrastructure that was around is not what it is now: you had to share rooms, flights, cabs, travel with your own practice balls because there were no balls to practice with, a lot of things that have changed. Now all the brands sponsor players, even if they are amateurs and cannot receive financial support, they help you with material, which was unthinkable before. They have more facilities to get to the top and everything is much more professionalized, 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 socialize 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 lived the best moments of golf. Not economically, 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 to play together, to travel together, we have a lot of anecdotes and stories that today are unthinkable. Who would think nowadays, if you have won a tournament, to say, “next week we will get together all of us who are in the tournament and we will all have dinner together to celebrate
“, and in those dinners you laughed at each other, at yourself, you shared experiences.
We had no teachers, we had to fend for ourselves, 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 gives me, can you look at some balls to see if you see anything?” and that same week you were saying that on Tuesday, and on Thursday you were competing against them. All that makes that I have lived a great time.
It has been a race that I have enjoyed very much, that I would repeat it again if I had the chance without a doubt, with the same travel companions, I would not change anything in that sense, that goes on and on”.
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