MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 5, 2023

Jose Maria Olazabal

Quick Quotes

Q. First off, how was the dinner last night?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: Actually, it was nice. Everything went really smooth. It was a couple of sentimental moments. There was the 50th anniversary of the victory of Tommy Aaron. Obviously the 25th anniversary of Mark O'Meara. And then Sandy Lyle, this is going to be his last Masters, and Larry Mize same thing.

Larry got a little emotional. He had a hard time trying to speak. Actually, he didn't. It was a very emotional dinner. So it was nice.

Q. So he got so emotional he couldn't get any words out?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: Correct.

Q. How about Scottie? He said that he might cry a little bit.

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: He hold on pretty well. He manage okay. You could sense that he was struggling a bit, but he got it through, and he did a good job, yes.

Q. I was talking to Faldo. He said that he was sitting over kind of near Phil and Gary. He said Phil talked more than Gary. That's hard to do, but is that right?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: Well, he was on the far end of the table, so I couldn't tell. I was pretty much in the middle. He will have better information than me in that regard.

Q. How impressed were you with Sergio last night? Obviously people have said some things. How do you feel he handled being in that room?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: I think he handled it okay, really well. We are all champions in that dinner. We all know what this is all about, and the most important thing yesterday night was Scottie Scheffler's dinner. We paid tribute to him and respect.

I think Sergio handled it okay. He had a conversation with Freddie. They talk. They chat. And it was -- as I said, it was really nice and smooth.

Q. I heard the tortilla soup was a little spicy?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: It had a little bit of kick in it, yeah, I have to say. I don't think all of us managed to finish it.

Q. How's your game been these last few days?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: It's been really off. I'm struggling with my game. This is not a golf course to bring your B or C game. I'm going to struggle this week, but it's part of life. It's part of golf.

It's just an honor to be here, being able to come here for so many years, seeing the new players come in, new winners, the Champions Dinner. So there's a lot of special moments during this week that I will always cherish.

Q. You talked about Sandy and Larry, how it's their last one. Do you have any kind of criteria that you have to meet to know that this is going to be my last one as well? Or do you just take it year by year? When do you know?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: When do you know? Well, it's up to you. It's how much you want to walk the course even if it's two days. As far as you're not a problem or an inconvenience to your playing partners, I think that's fair. If you play pretty speedy golf and you don't interfere in what the real players that have a chance to win the tournament have to do, I think you're okay.

I don't think it's down to a certain score or result. It's more of a sense of feeling that really will make that decision. But as I said, look at Larry, look at Sandy. Sandy, what is it, 65, 66 will be. So you don't have a specific reason or why you stop playing. I think, at the end of the day, you realize it's time, and that's it.

Q. Beyond playing, the members, the players are looking forward to you to come every year. And you help them, and they ask you questions. Is that a good reason to come back every year?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: Well, you feel like some sort of use. It's always nice for the young kids to come up and ask questions, and what do you do here? What do you do there? How do you see this hole? It's nice.

It's interesting to have the younger generations coming up to you and asking questions, trying to figure out how to play certain shots or how to play certain holes depending on where the pin position is.

Q. It's almost Ryder Cup time.

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: Almost.

Q. You and Sergio have been a big part of this. What do you have in mind for the next cup?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: I might be there. Most probably I will spend a couple of days over there. It's early days still. Obviously the team has not been shaped up. We do have obviously a few players that are pretty much on the team already, but captain Luke will have six picks, and there's a lot of decisions to be made in that regard.

We know the golf course. How they will set up the golf course, it's up to Luke. I'm pretty sure that he will do a good job at it. They know all the stats, all the information of all of the players. I'm pretty sure that they will do a good job preparing the golf course.

Well, it's just a matter of waiting a little bit longer and see how the teams shape up.

Q. How do you think -- how do you see the balance?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: Well, at the moment on paper, it might look like the United States has a stronger team, but at the end of the day, if we manage to -- I think there is a group of players that, if they manage to get in, we may end up having only like three rookies or so, and I think that will be a great combination.

It depends on players like Tommy, Frank, Shane. There is a couple of more there that, if they make the team on top of Rory and Jon and Hovland and so on, at the end of the day, you might end up having eight good solid players, eight, nine solid, good players with a lot of experience. Then you will have to rely on the possible rookies on the team.

But I've always said that on the European side most of the time, the rookies have done a wonderful job. I think we will have a pretty good chance.

Q. Eduardo has brought a lot of support with the stats and everything?

JOSÉ MARÍA OLAZABAL: Yeah, Eduardo's doing a great job. He knows his business, and he can actually pinpoint those little details that can make the difference. That's why I said before that, when preparing the golf course, I think having knowledge of all those little things might help us.