Olazabal races against time to make Ryder Cup

Jose Maria Olazabal admits time is running out in his bid for a seventh Ryder Cup appearance as he goes in search of a first Spanish Open title in Fuerteventura.

Three of Olazabal’s 22 European Tour titles have come in the Canary Islands with victory in the 1989 Tenerife Open, the 1992 Turespaqa Open de Tenerife and the 1997 Turespaqa Masters Open de Canarias.

But surprisingly, the double Masters champion has yet to savour success in his national Open and is desperate to add his name to the short, but illustrious, list of home winners.

Since the start of the tour in 1972 there have only been three home winners of the title, the most recent being Sergio Garcia in Gran Canaria in 2002 who followed in the footsteps of Seve Ballesteros (1981, 1985, 1995) and Antonio Garrido (1972).

Olazabal has shown flashes of his best form this year with a first round of 65 at the BellSouth Classic followed by a traditional strong early showing at the US Masters.

But the 38-year-old has failed to win a European Tour title since the Hong Kong Open in November 2001 and has not featured in the Ryder Cup since his sixth appearance ended in controversy at Brookline in 1999.

“The way I see it, it is going to be difficult for me to make the team if I don’t start playing some good golf pretty soon,” said Olazabal. “It is just down to me.

“I would love to make the team but my main concern right now is to be able to hit the ball better and enjoy myself and the rest will come.

“I can play good golf for a bunch of holes but then two or three bad ones spoil the round. It has been like that the whole year. I have had a few good scores but cannot do it for four days in a row.

“But I just do my own thing. All through the years there have been players who have been so keen to make the Ryder Cup team and play week in, week out and by the time the cup arrived they were drained.

“I don’t do that, I stick to my schedule and try to do well enough in those to make the team. If you give too much too early, when the Ryder Cup comes around you might not be in the best condition to play your best.”

Olazabal has also slipped so far down the world rankings that he is not currently qualified for the three remaining majors this year.

“I am not in the US Open, the Open or the USPGA but I am going to try and makes those events,” he added. “If I have to go through the qualifying then I will try every way possible to achieve that.”

In addition to Olazabal, the home challenge at Fuerteventura will also feature Carlos Rodiles, who will be looking to go one better than his runner-up finish on his last appearance on home soil.

That was in the Volvo Masters at the end of last season when he lost out to Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson at the fourth extra hole of a sudden-death play-off at Valderrama.

The 28-year-old from Malaga is still looking for his first tour victory but before Valderrama he had already finished eighth in the Lancome Trophy and fifth in the German Masters, two of the first three events in the Ryder Cup qualifying race.