Olazabal hopes gamble will pay off
Jose Maria Olazabal’s return to the Ryder Cup after seven years suddenly has a huge question mark over it. And not just because he fell from third to 10th in the qualifying table this weekend.
Olazabal intends to stick to a decision he made some time ago not to play next week’s BMW International in Munich.
That is the final counting event for Ian Woosnam’s side and the 40-year-old Spaniard accepts that if he does not rediscover form at this week’s Bridgestone world championship in Akron it could cost him dear.
“I never intended to play Munich. It was not on my schedule from the beginning of the year,” said Olazabal.
“I’ve not spoken to Woosie, but if I did I’d tell him pretty much what I feel. It’s a gamble you have to take – there’s no point playing tournament and tournament and getting to the Ryder Cup completely drained.
“Munich would be my fourth tournament in a row and if I go there I’d have just one week off (before the match). If I make the team I make the team. I’m not going to guess about my chances of a wild card (if he loses his spot) – that’s not my decision.”
The double Masters champion has had two seconds and a third on the US Tour this year, but the last of them was at Augusta in April and his best since then was 10th in the French Open in June.
His last three finishes were 56th in the Open, missed cut at The International and then 55th in the US PGA championship – and closing rounds of 75 and 77 at the weekend not surprisingly left Olazabal gloomy.
“I’ve had problems with my game for over a month now – and pretty much with everything,” he added.
Because Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia (joint third) and Henrik Stenson (14th) did so well in Chicago Olazabal dropped out of the top five on the Ryder Cup table based on world ranking points earned in the last year.
The next five places in Europe’s side come off performances on the European tour only and because of the time has spent in America he is below Robert Karlsson, Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley on that.
It leaves Olazabal in the 10th and last automatic qualifying spot with just two events left and although this week’s championship is back at the Firestone course where he won by 12 shots in 1990 after a dazzling opening round 61 he is hardly brimming with confidence.
“It does not matter what you have done before,” he stated. “It’s just about hitting good shots now.”
One thing in his favour is that Colin Montgomerie, already sure of his Ryder Cup place, has pulled out this week and opted instead for a celebrity event in Wales.
If he can finish in the top 25 in the 78-strong field Olazabal will pass fourth-placed Montgomerie on
the Ryder Cup standings. But there are still others he has to worry about passing him and, with Montgomerie returning next week, his own absence from Munich could well make all the difference.
His prospects of returning via the two wild cards depend, of course, on what the options available to Woosnam are.
Lee Westwood is back playing well and still needing one of them and then there is Darren Clarke, taking time off at present after his wife Heather lost her cancer battle nine days ago.
And on top of that, naturally, there is the chance that somebody else this week or next week could come through and change things.
Olazabal, who formed with Seve Ballesteros Europe’s most formidable pairing ever, has not been involved in the match since his singles with Justin Leonard in 1999.
That was the game which sparked controversy when members of the American camp charged onto the 17th green before the match was settled.
Meanwhile, sixth-placed Robert Karlsson has also decided not to play in Munich - and insists he will not change his mind even if at the end of this week there is a slight chance he could be knocked out of the top 10.
The Swede has accepted an invitation to the US Tour event in Boston and did speak to Woosnam before committing to it.
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