Biography

Jose Maria Olazabal

Olazabal burst onto the golf scene in 1986, when he finished second on the European Tour Order of Merit in his first season at the age of 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. He was unable to play in 1996 due to a foot injury but he recovered and recorded further top ten placing 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. He has been highly placed in The Masters on a number of other occasions.

In 2000 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 twenty of the world rankings.

Olazábal was a member of the European Ryder Cup team in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997 and 1999. He had a famous partnership with fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros.

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 US golfer Brad Faxon's previous record of 8.5 miles, set in 1997.

Tournament victories

European Tour

1986 Ebel European Masters Swiss Open, Sanyo Open
1988 Volvo Belgian Open, German Masters
1989 Tenerife Open, KLM Dutch Open
1990 Benson & Hedges International Open, Carroll's Irish Open, Lancome Trophy
1991 Open Catalonia, Epson Grand Prix of Europe
1992 Turespana Open de Tenerife, Open Mediterrania
1994 Turespana Open Mediterrania, Volvo PGA Championship
1997 Turespana Masters Open de Canarias
1998 Dubai Desert Classic 1999 The Masters
2000 Benson and Hedges International Open
2001 Open de France 2002 Omega Hong Kong Open (2001 calendar year, 2002 season)
2005 Mallorca Classic 

The European Tour recognised the three U.S. based majors in 1998, so Olazábal's 1999 Masters victory counts as a European Tour win, but his 1994 Masters title doesn't.

PGA Tour wins

1990 NEC World Series of Golf
1991 The International
1994 The Masters, NEC World Series of Golf
1999 The Masters 2002 Buick Invitational 

Olazabal's 1999 Masters win also counted as a European Tour title.

Other professional wins

1989 Visa Taiheiyo Masters (Japan)
1990 Visa Taiheiyo Masters (Japan)

Amateur wins

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

Team appearances

Amateur

Eisenhower Trophy (representing Spain): 1982, 1984
St Andrews Trophy: 1984
Jacques Leglise Trophy: 1982-84 

Professional

Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1987 (winners), 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997 (winners), 1999
Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Spain): 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999 (winners), 2000
World Cup (representing Spain): 1989, 2000
Four Tours World Championship: 1987, 1989
The Seve Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2000 (winners), 2002, 2003, 2005 (playing captain)

Reference:

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