CHUBB CLASSIC PRESENTED BY SERVPRO

April 14, 2021

Jose Maria Olazabal

Tiburón Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Obviously a really cool accomplishment, making the cut last week at the Masters. How neat was that for you?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: It was a very nice surprise, I have to say. It's been, what, seven years I think the last time I made the cut. It was great. It was great to make the weekend, especially on the Friday that was -- it would have been Seve's birthday. It was a bit emotional in that regard.

Plus other things, but it was really nice. I felt proud.

Q. What was the feedback you received coming back here to this event from your fellow competitors?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: I was here yesterday afternoon for a little while, and I think everybody was in a state of shock that I made the cut last week. Me included.

But yeah, I think, as you said, it was a pretty nice accomplishment.

Q. How do you build off that and carry that into this event, even though it's entirely different?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, I was going to say that. It's a completely different golf course. I played yesterday, what, six, seven holes yesterday, obviously nothing to do with Augusta. Small greens, greens are firm and fast, that is true, but you have to position the ball here. Fairways at Augusta are much wider, and in that regard for me, that I'm not the best or the straightest driver in the world, well, that helps over there.

But I know that here I need to be sharp off the tee in order to be able to compete for the event. But it's a completely different golf course.

I take obviously some positives from last week, especially the way I played, but the driver I need to improve, especially around this golf course.

Q. What did you do well at Augusta that resulted in --

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, it was pretty much for me all down to saving pars, chip and putt. I knew I was going to miss a lot of greens. I was hitting 5-woods, 7-woods into most of the par-4s over there. The greens were pretty hard, especially on Thursday, and you know you're going to miss greens. So the key for me was to make a lot of saves, and that's what I did. I chipped and putted well last week.

Q. What's it like playing with players that are a lot younger than you at Augusta, but you're still going head-to-head with them?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, I have to say that it's great to watch them hit the ball. It is very impressive, the quality of the shot, the height of the shot, the distance they hit and how straight they hit it, that is quite impressive, I have to say. When you hit it over 300 yards pretty much right down the middle of the fairway with a high ball trajectory, that is quite impressive.

It's great to play with them. You realize how much the game of golf has evolved throughout the last few years, and well, it's good to be part of it.

Q. Does that give you more motivation to come out here more often and to play more and compete more?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, I mean, the thing is I haven't competed as much as I wanted because of my health conditions. I have to take my medication. I have to take my injection every 15 days, and that limits my number of tournaments. Hopefully I will be able to play a bit more this year, COVID permitted, and that's the idea. That's the goal, to play more often over here.

Q. What do you think Hideki's win will do for him and also --

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZÁBAL: Well, I mean, he's a very discreet player, I have to say. He knows his ground. Obviously it's going to be huge for him, huge for Japan. Hopefully it won't change his life all that much. Obviously it will change his career because at the end of the day majors are the ones that dictate the depth of your career, and in that regard for Hideki that's going to be huge. It was very impressive, especially on Saturday. He really took advantage of the conditions after the storm.

But he held on really well on Sunday, and whenever he opened the door, Schauffele gave it back to him on 16, unfortunately for Schauffele, because he was making a great comeback. He was putting the pressure on Hideki. All of a sudden, one -- I don't know if it was a bad shot. The line was great; I don't know if it was a bad club or bad contact, but I have to take my hat off to him the way he handled himself at that moment.