| José María Olazábal | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | José María Olazábal |
| Nickname | Ollie |
| Born | 5 February 1966 Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st) |
| Nationality |  Spain |
| Residence | Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1985 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour (joined 2001) European Tour (joined 1986) |
| Professional wins | 29 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 6 |
| European Tour | 23 (8th all time) |
| Japan Golf Tour | 2 |
| Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 2) |
|
| The Masters | Won: 1994, 1999 |
| U.S. Open | T8: 1990, 1991 |
| Open Championship | 3rd/T3: 1992, 2005 |
| PGA Championship | T4: 2000 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 2009 (member page) |
| 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.
Contents |
Career outline
Olazábal was born in Hondarribia, a town in the Basque Country region of Spain. He burst onto the golf scene in as a junior, winning The (British) Amateur Championship aged eighteen. Then, in his rookie professional season of 1986, he finished second on the European Tour Order of Merit aged just 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 (over 300 weeks).[1] Had Olazábal beaten Ian Woosnam at The Masters in 1991 (he finished second) he would have become the World number one. He was unable to play in 1996 due to a foot injury but he recovered and recorded further top ten placings 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. These wins make him the only winner of The Amateur Championship since World War II to have gone on to win a professional major. 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.[2]
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 formed a famous partnership with fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros that spanned many years,[3] 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 U.S. golfer Brad Faxon's previous record of 8.5 miles, set in 1997.[4]
Olazábal was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 with 56% of the vote on the international ballot.[5]
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
Professional wins (29)
European Tour wins (23)
|
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 Sep 1986 | Ebel European Masters Swiss Open | -26 (64-66-66-66=262) | 3 strokes |  Anders Forsbrand |
| 2 | 12 Oct 1986 | Sanyo Open | -15 (69-68-69-67=273) | 3 strokes |  Howard Clark |
| 3 | 19 Jun 1988 | Volvo Belgian Open | -15 (67-69-64-68=269) | 4 strokes |  Mike Smith |
| 4 | 25 Sep 1988 | German Masters | -9 (69-72-70-68=279) | 2 strokes | Anders Forsbrand,  Des Smyth |
| 5 | 26 Feb 1989 | Tenerife Open | -13 (69-68-68-70=275) | 3 strokes | José Maria Cañizares |
| 6 | 30 Jul 1989 | KLM Dutch Open | -11 (67-66-68-76=277) | Playoff | Roger Chapman,  Ronan Rafferty |
| 7 | 7 May 1990 | Benson & Hedges International Open | -9 (69-68-69-73=279) | 1 stroke |  Ian Woosnam |
| 8 | 24 Jun 1990 | Carroll's Irish Open | -6 (67-72-71-72=282) | 3 strokes | Mark Calcavecchia,  Frank Nobilo |
| 9 | 16 Sep 1990 | Lancome Trophy | -11 (68-66-70-65=269) | 1 stroke |  Colin Montgomerie |
| 10 | 17 Mar 1991 | Open Catalonia | -17 (66-68-64-73=271) | 6 strokes | David Feherty |
| 11 | 22 Sep 1991 | Epson Grand Prix of Europe | -19 (64-68-67-66=265) | 9 strokes | Mark James |
| 12 | 23 Feb 1992 | Turespana Open de Tenerife | -20 (71-68-66-63=268) | 5 strokes | Miguel Ángel Martín |
| 13 | 1 Mar 1992 | Open Mediterrania | -12 (68-71-69-68=276) | 2 strokes | José Rivero |
| 14 | 6 Mar 1994 | Turespana Open Mediterrania | -12 (70-65-71-70=276) | Playoff | Paul McGinley |
| 15 | 10 Apr 1994 | The Masters | -9 (74-67-69-69=279) | 2 strokes | Tom Lehman |
| 16 | 30 May 1994 | Volvo PGA Championship | -17 (67-68-71-65=271) | 1 stroke |  Ernie Els |
| 17 | 23 Mar 1997 | Turespana Masters Open de Canarias | -20 (70-67-68-67=272) | 2 strokes | Lee Westwood |
| 18 | 1 Mar 1998 | Dubai Desert Classic | -19 (69-67-65-68=269) | 3 strokes |  Stephen Allan |
| 19 | 11 Apr 1999 | The Masters | -8 (70-66-73-71=280) | 2 strokes | Davis Love III |
| 20 | 14 May 2000 | Benson & Hedges International Open | -13 (75-68-66-66=275) | 3 strokes | Phillip Price |
| 21 | 6 May 2001 | Open de France | -12 (66-69-66-67=268) | 2 strokes | Paul Eales,  Costantino Rocca, Greg Turner |
| 22 | 2 Dec 2001 | Omega Hong Kong Open | -22 (65-69-64-64=262) | 1 stroke |  Henrik Bjørnstad |
| 23 | 23 Oct 2005 | Mallorca Classic | -10 (69-65-70-66=270) | 5 strokes | Paul Broadhurst, Sergio García, José Manuel Lara |
PGA Tour wins (6)
|
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 Aug 1990 | NEC World Series of Golf | -26 (61-67-67-67=262) | 12 strokes | Lanny Wadkins |
| 2 | 18 Aug 1991 | The International | 10 points (5-6-8-10) | 3 points | Ian Baker-Finch, Scott Gump, Bob Lohr |
| 3 | 10 Apr 1994 | The Masters | -9 (74-67-69-69=279) | 2 strokes | Tom Lehman |
| 4 | 28 Aug 1994 | NEC World Series of Golf | -19 (66-67-69-67=269) | 1 stroke | Scott Hoch |
| 5 | 11 Apr 1999 | The Masters | -8 (70-66-73-71=280) | 2 strokes | Davis Love III |
| 6 | 10 Feb 2002 | Buick Invitational | -13 (71-72-67-65=275) | 1 stroke | J. L. Lewis, Mark O'Meara |
Japan Golf Tour wins (2)
- 1989 Visa Taiheiyo Masters
- 1990 Visa Taiheiyo Masters
Major Championships
Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Masters | 1 shot deficit | -9 (74-67-69-69=279) | 2 strokes | Tom Lehman |
| 1999 | The Masters (2) | 1 shot lead | -8 (70-66-73-71=280) | 2 strokes | Davis Love III |
Results timeline
| 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 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | CUT | T15 | 4 | T8 | 30 | CUT | T3 | T44 | CUT | CUT |
| U.S. Open | T12 | CUT | T50 | CUT | DNP | DNP | T21 | T45 | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | T31 | T54 | CUT | CUT | DNP | T3 | T56 | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T4 | T37 | 69 | T51 | CUT | T47 | T55 | CUT | DNP | DNP |
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
Team appearances
Amateur
- Eisenhower Trophy (representing Spain): 1982, 1984
- St Andrews Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 1984
- Jacques Léglise 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
- Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2000 (winners), 2002, 2003, 2005 (playing captain)
References
- ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
- ^ PGA Championship Tournament Records
- ^ "Top Ryder Cup pairings". The Daily Telegraph. 8 September 2008. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/rydercup/2707742/Top-Ryder-Cup-pairings---Golf.html. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
- ^ "Hope that the US can be put to Ryder flight". The Guardian. 21 September 1999. http://www.guardian.co.uk/ryder/Story/0,,202376,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
- ^ "Olazabal to be inducted in Hall of Fame". Associated Press. USA Today. 20 May 2009. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/2009-05-20-olazabal-hall-of-fame_N.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
See also
External links
- Profile on the European Tour's official site
- Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
- Results in ranking events for the last two years from the Official World Ranking site
- Golden Heart Award 1999 granted by Spanish Heart Foundation
|
|||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
