JOSE Maria Olazabal will finally return to golf this week, more than seven months after his last appearance. The double Masters champion, out of action since last August because of rheumatic pains in his shoulders and groin, has been given a late sponsors’ invitation to the Andalucian Open at Aloha, Spain, starting on Thursday.
The event, won by Ryder Cup team-mate Lee Westwood last year, gives 42-year-old Olazabal the competitive outing he sought before flying across the Atlantic for next week’s Houston Open and then the Masters at Augusta on 10-13 April.
The Spaniard’s
last tournament was the final major of last year, the US PGA Championship, and having already pulled out of the Open at Carnoustie, his problems were apparent there as he missed the halfway cut with rounds of 75 and 80.
After withdrawing from the World Cup in November Olazabal said at that time: “Even sitting down for any length of time has been painful, but the good news is that tests indicate a marked improvement and my long-term aim is to get back in action in January.
“I’ve seen a lot of doctors and they’ve done all kinds of tests. They know it’s some kind of rheumatism, but they don’t know what caused it and it’s just a matter of treating the symptoms until they go away.
“I believe I have another five or six good years in me and I want to get back playing as soon as possible.”
It is only now, however, that he feels well enough to resume his career. Olazabal had also hoped to earn an eighth Ryder Cup cap this September, but after so long out of action it is hard to see him occupying a position at Valhalla as anything other than Nick Faldo’s assistant captain.
Olazabal spent 18 months out of the game in the mid-1990s and an original diagnosis of rheumatoid polyarthritis then left him fearing a future in a wheelchair.
That was eventually changed to a herniated disc in his lower back and not only did he make a comeback, he went on to capture a second green jacket at Augusta in 1999.
With Seve Ballesteros, Olazabal formed the most successful Ryder Cup partnership in history – only two losses in 15 games together – and he had a magnificent return to cup action in 2006 seven years after his previous cap.
Two wins in the fourballs with Sergio Garcia were followed by a singles victory over Phil Mickelson as Europe won by a record-equalling nine-point margin. Olazabal did not play either of the foursomes, so finished with the satisfactory return of three points out of three.
The full article contains 462 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
