MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 10, 2021

Jose Maria Olazabal

Quick Quotes

Q. Could you tell us a little about your round today.

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: I was doing okay. I was really happy with my round. I was playing steady, didn't put myself in too much trouble. Then I took a risk on 15. I had a tight club, but it was the only one that could stop the ball on that area of the green.

I hit it good, I have to say, and it was just a matter of two, three feet. As a matter of fact, I played the next one from the same spot, and it was a perfect distance. So nothing wrong with that shot, but that's Augusta for you. Three feet here or there can make a big difference.

Then I didn't hit a proper shot on 17. I put myself in a bad spot, and I three-putted there. On 17 just -- I thought it could have been good, my iron, but it was just a fraction too far left. That was it.

Apart from that, I have to say that I was quite pleased until that hiccup of three holes.

Q. We talked to Mickelson like five minutes ago, and he spent like two minutes describing your short game and how you are the best short game player in the world and how you can use 7-irons and 6-irons around the greens.

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, I don't think Phil is bad at it either. I was born and raised that way. I was never a long hitter. I had to compensate that somehow with the rest of the game. Obviously, the short game was part of it. Where I grew up learning golf, we have clay, and in wintertime, everything is wet and soggy. If you don't catch the ball properly, you're going to struggle. So I think that was a good learning spot.

We had a teacher that he forced us to not use the sand wedge around the greens. He forced us to use other clubs, even 7-iron, and try to flop it with the 7-irons. I think that was a good help or a big help in developing the short game.

Q. You had a bunch of really good up and downs today. Is there one that you are most proud of?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: They were all quite easy, I have to say. When I put them in the right spots, except on 17 -- the one on 14, there you go. The one on 14, I hit it past the green there. I didn't have any room at all, only four yards from the back edge, and I had to bump and run it through the fringe. I think that was the best one, yeah, 14.

Q. What club did you use there?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: I used a 52.

Q. How much golf have you played since the Masters in November? Nick Faldo said on the broadcast you told him you haven't played at all.

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: I never competed until -- I mean, this was -- I went from Masters to Masters.

Q. You played practice rounds?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: I played practice rounds at home, but I mean nothing competitive, and I didn't play all that much either. I started to play a little bit of golf on the golf course maybe, what was it, two, three weeks prior to coming here, and not every day. I played like three days a week. But as I said, I never played any competitive round since November here at Augusta.

Q. And if you could just remember back to your two wins here, what were those celebrations like? Because obviously, you're winning so far away from home. Were you able to have good celebrations here, or did you have to kind of wait until you got back to really celebrate?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: I had good celebrations here and there, both. There you go. I had friends with me, close friends that stayed with me. Those two wins. But, obviously, the big party was back at home with my family and friends and all that. But I enjoyed both of them.

Q. Do you have a sense of how much longer you want to compete?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: The game will dictate. It's as simple as that. The game will tell you when you have to stop. It's true that you see guys like Bernard and Larry and Sandy and Woosy playing here, but in these type of conditions, maybe we can still put up a decent score, but if the golf course is long and wet, we're going to struggle because even with these fast conditions, I'm hitting a lot of woods into the par 4s, and that makes it a little more difficult.

Q. Did you feel inspiration again from Seve?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, yesterday was a special day. Yesterday was his birthday. I had that in my mind. In those days, they're always special when you experience moments like I have close with him at the Ryder Cup, big events, the way he treated me all through the years, you know, those days are truly special.

And I miss him, I have to say, especially around here, because I know that he would be enjoying every part of being here.

Q. What's the most meaningful thing someone said to you about making the cut this year?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: I think they were all in a state of shock, I have to say, most of them. Nobody expected it, and that's why I got so many messages. Oh, you made it. You made it. That was it. They were all pretty happy. As I said, pretty much unexpected after seven years of not making the cut. I don't think many people would expect me to make the cut, and they were all happy.