José María Olazábal Manterola (, ; born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish professional golfer from the Basque Country, Spain who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He has won 30 professional tournaments, including two major championships, both the 1994 and 1999 Masters Tournaments.
Olazábal played for Europe in seven Ryder Cups from 1987 to 2006. He also served as captain at the 2012 Ryder Cup, where the European team overcame a 10–6 deficit to win 14½–13½.
Early life Olazábal was born in Hondarribia, a town in the Basque Country of Spain, the day after the golf course Real Golf Club de San Sebastian opened next to his family's home. His father Gaspar succeeded his grandfather as greenskeeper at the golf club, where his mother also worked. Olazábal began to hit golf balls at age 2 with a shortened club, and at age 6 he could practice on the course in late afternoons.
Amateur career As an amateur, he represented Spain on all levels. He represented Spain in competing in the Eisenhower Trophy at 16 years of age in 1982, and again two years later, in 1984.
In 1983, he won the Boys Amateur Championship at Glenbervie Golf Club, Scotland, and in 1984, he won The Amateur Championship at Formby Golf Club, Liverpool, England, at age 18, beating Colin Montgomerie 5 and 4 in the final. The year after, when he won the British Youths Open Amateur Championship, at Ganton Golf Club, England, he became the first player to have won the British Boy's, Youth's and Amateur titles in a career.
At the 1985 European Amateur Team Championship in Halmstad, Sweden, Olazabal made a hole-in-one at the 13th hole on his way to winning 3 and 2 against Colin Montgomerie in the semi-final between Spain and Scotland. However, Scotland went on to win the team tournament.
The month before his British Youths title, Olazábal, finished tied 25th and low amateur at the 1985 Open Championship in tough conditions at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England.
Professional career In his rookie professional season of 1986, he finished second on the European Tour Order of Merit aged 20. In his first nine seasons, he finished in the top 10 seven times, including another second place in 1989. He was unable to play in 1996 due to a foot injury but he recovered and recorded further top 10 placings in the Order of Merit in 1997, 1999 and 2000.
He has won 23 career titles on the European Tour, which is ninth best all-time.
He was in the world top 10 for over 300 weeks between 1989 and 1995. Had Olazábal beaten Ian Woosnam at the 1991 Masters Tournament (he finished second) he would have become the World No. 1.
In 1990, Olazábal made, at the time, a rare visit to the PGA Tour, invited in a limited field to the NEC World Series of Golf at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. He opened with a course record 61, continued with aggregate course and tournament records after every round and finished with an 18-under 262 total, 12 strokes ahead of second placed Lanny Wadkins. After congratulating Olazábal, Wadkins joked that he wished Olazábal back to Europe immediately.
Both of Olazábal's majors have come in the United States, namely The Masters in 1994 and 1999. These wins make him one of only two winners 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.
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 $2 million and came 24th 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 15 of the world rankings.
Olazábal was a member of Europe's Ryder Cup team seven times from 1987 to 2006. He formed a famous partnership with fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros that spanned many years, and formed a similarly successful partnership with Sergio García in 2006.
Olazábal captained the European team at the 2012 Ryder Cup for the defence of the trophy at Medinah Country Club in Illinois. After his team went down 10–4 during the second day and 10–6 going into the last day, he helped engineer the greatest ever Ryder Cup comeback with the European team eventually winning by 14½ points to 13½. Olazábal was very emotional with the win, saying in an interview that that was his number one happiest golf moment and happiest moment of his life. The win was inspired by his late friend Seve Ballesteros, to whom he dedicated the win. He confirmed afterwards that he would not consider himself for captaincy in the next Ryder Cup.
Olazábal 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 1,270 mph, traveled 9.232 miles, beating U.S. golfer Brad Faxon's previous record of 8.5 miles, set in 1997.
Awards and honors
In 2009, Olazábal was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 with 56% of the vote on the international ballot.
On 19 June 2013, Olazábal was presented with Spain's most prestigious sporting honor, the Prince of Asturias Award in recognition of his accomplishments as a player and leader of the 2012 Ryder Cup team. He is only the second golfer to be honored since the awards were launched in 1987; Seve Ballesteros was honored in 1989.
Amateur wins 1982 Spanish Amateur Closed Championship 1983 Italian Open Amateur Championship, Biarritz Cup, Spanish International Amateur Championship, Boys Amateur Championship, Spanish Amateur Closed Championship 1984 The Amateur Championship, Belgian International Youths Championship, Spanish International Amateur Championship 1985 British Youths Open Amateur Championship
Professional wins (30) PGA Tour wins (6) LegendMajor championships (2)Other PGA Tour (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up126 Aug 1990NEC World Series of Golf−18 (61-67-67-67=262)12 strokes Lanny Wadkins218 Aug 1991The International10 pts (5-6-8-10=10)3 points Ian Baker-Finch, Scott Gump, Bob Lohr310 Apr 1994Masters Tournament−9 (74-67-69-69=279)2 strokes Tom Lehman428 Aug 1994NEC World Series of Golf (2)−11 (66-67-69-67=269)1 stroke Scott Hoch511 Apr 1999Masters Tournament (2)−8 (70-66-73-71=280)2 strokes Davis Love III610 Feb 2002Buick Invitational−13 (71-72-67-65=275)1 stroke J. L. Lewis, Mark O'Meara
PGA Tour playoff record (0–2) No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult12005BellSouth Classic Arjun Atwal, Rich Beem, Brandt Jobe, Phil MickelsonMickelson won with birdie on fourth extra holeOlazábal eliminated by par on third holeAtwal and Jobe eliminated by par on first hole22006Buick Invitational Nathan Green, Tiger WoodsWoods won with par on second extra holeGreen eliminated by par on first hole
European Tour wins (23) LegendMajor championships (2) Flagship events (1)Other European Tour (20) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up17 Sep 1986 Ebel European Masters Swiss Open−26 (64-66-66-66=262)3 strokes Anders Forsbrand212 Oct 1986Sanyo Open −15 (69-68-69-67=273)3 strokes Howard Clark319 Jun 1988 Volvo Belgian Open−15 (67-69-64-69=269)4 strokes Mike Smith425 Sep 1988German Masters−9 (69-72-70-68=279)2 strokes Anders Forsbrand, Des Smyth526 Feb 1989 Tenerife Open −13 (69-68-68-70=275)3 strokes José María Cañizares630 Jul 1989KLM Dutch Open −11 (67-66-68-76=277)Playoff Roger Chapman, Ronan Rafferty77 May 1990 Benson & Hedges International Open−9 (69-68-69-73=279)1 stroke Ian Woosnam824 Jun 1990Carroll's Irish Open−6 (67-72-71-72=282)3 strokes Mark Calcavecchia, Frank Nobilo916 Sep 1990Trophée Lancôme−11 (68-66-70-65=269)1 stroke Colin Montgomerie1017 Mar 1991 Open Catalonia−17 (66-68-64-73=271)6 strokes David Feherty1122 Sep 1991Epson Grand Prix of Europe −19 (64-68-67-66=265)9 strokes Mark James1223 Feb 1992 Turespaña Open de Tenerife (2)−20 (71-68-66-63=268)5 strokes Miguel Ángel Martín131 Mar 1992Open Mediterrania −12 (68-71-69-68=276)2 strokes José Rivero146 Mar 1994 Turespaña Open Mediterrania (2)−12 (70-65-71-70=276)Playoff Paul McGinley1510 Apr 1994Masters Tournament−9 (74-67-69-69=279)2 strokes Tom Lehman1630 May 1994Volvo PGA Championship −17 (67-68-71-65=271)1 stroke Ernie Els1723 Mar 1997 Turespaña Masters Open de Canarias−20 (70-67-68-67=272)2 strokes Lee Westwood181 Mar 1998 Dubai Desert Classic −19 (69-67-65-68=269)3 strokes Stephen Allan1911 Apr 1999 Masters Tournament (2)−8 (70-66-73-71=280)2 strokes Davis Love III2014 May 2000 Benson & Hedges International Open (2)−13 (75-68-66-66=275)3 strokes Phillip Price216 May 2001Novotel Perrier Open de France−12 (66-69-66-67=268)2 strokes Paul Eales, Costantino Rocca, Greg Turner222 Dec 2001(2002 season)Omega Hong Kong Open1−22 (65-69-64-64=262)1 stroke Henrik Bjørnstad2323 Oct 2005 Mallorca Classic−10 (69-65-70-66=270)5 strokes Paul Broadhurst, Sergio García, José Manuel Lara 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian PGA Tour
European Tour playoff record (2–2) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11989KLM Dutch Open Roger Chapman, Ronan RaffertyWon with double-bogey on ninth extra holeChapman eliminated by par on first hole21993Carroll's Irish Open Nick FaldoLost to par on first extra hole31994Turespaña Open Mediterrania Paul McGinleyWon with birdie on second extra hole41994Mercedes German Masters Seve Ballesteros, Ernie ElsBallesteros won with birdie on first extra hole
PGA of Japan Tour wins (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up112 Nov 1989Visa Taiheiyo Club Masters−13 (66-70-67=203)3 strokes Isao Aoki, Naomichi Ozaki211 Nov 1990Visa Taiheiyo Club Masters (2)−18 (66-68-69-67=270)5 strokes Bernhard Langer, Masashi Ozaki
Other wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunners-up130 Apr 1995Tournoi Perrier de Paris(with Seve Ballesteros)−24 (63-67-64-62=256)3 strokes Mike Clayton and Peter O'Malley
Major championships
Wins (2) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1994 Masters Tournament 1 shot deficit −9 (74-67-69-69=279) 2 strokes Tom Lehman 1999 Masters Tournament (2)1 shot lead −8 (70-66-73-71=280) 2 strokes Davis Love III
Results timeline Results not in chronological order in 2020. Tournament198419851986198719881989Masters TournamentCUTCUTT8U.S. OpenT68T9The Open ChampionshipCUTT25LAT16T11T36T23PGA ChampionshipCUTCUT Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999Masters Tournament132T42T71T14T12T121U.S. OpenT8T8CUTCUTCUTT28T16T18WDThe Open ChampionshipT16T803CUTT38T31T20T15CUTPGA ChampionshipT14CUTCUTT56T7T31CUTCUTCUT Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters TournamentCUTT154T830CUTT3T44CUTCUTU.S. OpenT12CUTT50CUTT21T45The Open ChampionshipT31T54CUTCUTT3T56PGA ChampionshipT4T3769T51CUTT47T55CUT Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018Masters TournamentCUTCUTT50T34CUTCUTCUTU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipCUTCUT Tournament20192020202120222023202420252026Masters TournamentCUTCUTT50CUTCUTT45CUTCUTPGA ChampionshipU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipNT
LA = Low amateur WD = Withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 2 1 1 5 8 13 37 20PGA Championship 0 0 0 1 2 3 21 10U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 3 7 18 11The Open Championship 0 0 2 2 2 9 21 16Totals 2 1 3 8 15 32 97 57 Most consecutive cuts made – 9 (1994 Open Championship – 1997 Open Championship) Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (twice)
Results in The Players Championship