Olly still has Ryder dream

JOSE-MARIA Olazabal has been a great friend of the Irish Open ever since he first competed as an amateur at Royal Dublin in 1985.

He had captured the British Amateur Championship the previous year and was regarded as one of the game’s brightest prospects.

He played all four rounds at the Dollymount venue and appreciated the opportunity to take on the professionals. He duly joined the paid ranks later that year and never forgot the gesture, and includes the Irish Open in his schedule whenever possible.

His one success came in 1990 at Portmarnock and he has nothing but happy memories of this country. Having been out of Ryder Cup reckoning since 1999 when he was at the receiving end of the amazing behaviour of the US players after Justin Leonard holed a huge, match- winning putt at the 17th, one might have thought the 39-year-old Spaniard’s interest in playing the matches had waned.

However, with the Ryder Cup set for the K-Club next year, you suspect that he might relish the prospect of one last hurrah in the event, especially in Ireland.

“Well, first there are a few things I must take care of”, he said in Carton House last night.

“Obviously I need to improve my ranking so that I can play the big events which at the moment I can’t get into. That goal comes before the Ryder Cup. The points start in September this year, so there is a lot of time yet.

“I’ve also agreed that if I played good golf, I should make the team. If I don’t make it, it’s because I didn’t play good golf and I won’t deserve it.

“Obviously, I would love to be part of the Ryder Cup again. You miss it a lot, especially after seeing how well the boys played.

“Then, you miss it even more. The atmosphere in Ireland should be special. I know the crowds are going to be huge. They have great knowledge of the game. They have respect and will respect both teams and it should be extremely fair.”

Olazabal spends most of his time in the US these day, gladly accepting the many sponsor invitations that come his way. He needs them because he has lost his card over there, something he could and should have rectified in the Bell South tournament in Atlanta the week before the Masters. He had several opportunities to win it before losing in a play-off to Phil Mickelson.

“But I’m really happy with how things are going. All you can do is just play good golf and knock on the door and sooner or later, it will open. It’s a matter of giving myself chances and if I do that, the win will come.”

Olly was speaking in the aftermath of Padraig Harrington saying you would easily identify who had designed the Carton course.

“I would agree on that. It’s going to be an extremely tough week overall. The landing areas are very narrow, not silly, silly, silly but silly. The bunkers are very deep. I dislike that, some of them are too deep. You’re going to see some guys not getting the ball out. There is a lot of movement on the greens and the greenside bunkers are also very deep.”

Considering his intimate knowledge of American conditions, Olazabal compared Monty’s Carton to the average US Open lay-out, stressing that “it doesn’t come any tougher than that. American golfers are used to tough conditions but this would be different to what they see over there, that’s for sure. You don’t see these types of bunkers, links-type bunkers and so deep.”

He had no argument with Montgomerie’s point that this course was his answer to the advances in technology and stressed that “unless it blows straight into your face, you can reach the par fours, even though some of them are longish. You see bunkers from 230, 240, 250 yards up to 300, 320. It’s the severity of the bunkers themselves.”

Considering all of this, you suspect that Jose-Maria will have to wait another year or so before picking up his second Irish Open title. He’s not a defeatist, though, and never panicked, not even when a mysterious injury threatened his career in 1995, not more recently when golf became something of a struggle. Wildness off the tee was invariably the major problem.

“I knew if I didn’t improve my driving that I would not be able to compete,” he accepted.

“I knew that while I could make cuts and have a decent round that I wouldn’t be able to compete against the best unless I increased the quality of my striking. I love the game of golf and I would always keep trying.

“Quite simply, I’ve hit the ball better this year. If you hit more fairways, you hit more greens. I’ve changed nothing, just worked on my rhythm and on the path of the swing a little bit but nothing drastic.”