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UBS HONG KONG OPEN

November 19, 2008

Jose Maria Olazabal

FANLING, HONG KONG

RODDY WILLIAMS: JosÃ© Maria, thank you very much indeed for coming in and joining us. It's a special week for the UBS Hong Kong Open, the 50th anniversary. Of course, it was only a few years ago that you won here, very impressive finish.
What does it mean for you to be back here again this week?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, it's nice, first of all, it's nice to be back in this place. I do have good memories of this tournament in the past, and on the other hand, it's also nice because, you know, it's going to be my third tournament, even though I'm not 100 per cent fit, but at least it's going to be another tournament under my belt and hopefully I will be able to play four days in a row and see how everybody holds on and how I feel, and that will be another test, and those two reasons are quite important nowadays.
RODDY WILLIAMS: How pleasing was your performance at Castellon, four good rounds there?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Obviously to finish 15th, it was great. But I always said during the week that the way I was striking the ball, it was not okay. I mean, I missed a lot of shots off the tee, and a bunch of irons, also. I had to rely on my short game that week to be able to score and I managed to put four decent rounds that week.
But the game is still far from being what it should be. And that is something that, well, at the moment, I'm going to have to cope with the best I can, and hopefully, you know, if I start feeling stronger and better, I will be able to practice more often and with a little bit more intensity, and that might help me to regain some of the confidence in the game.

Q. You've been suffering from injury, for the past 12 months; does it change your game, you coming back? Are you ready for more tournaments in the future?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, I really don't know. I haven't made my schedule for next year, that depends on how I feel obviously. If I don't feel really good, obviously I won't be able to play a normal schedule. I will have to try to play as many tournaments as I can, but the tournaments that the body allows me to play.
So that's going to be a question mark so far. I'm not -- as I said, I'm not 100 per cent pain free, and you know, until that date comes, I will have to wait and manage the schedule the best I can.

Q. How often are you able to practice?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, not as often as I used to. I spent actually -- sometimes I spent more time in the physio truck than on the driving range (laughing).
It's more or less the intensity. If I play 18 holes back home, the rest of the day is off. The days I don't play golf, I hit balls for a couple of hours, and that's pretty much it.

Q. What kind of treatment?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: At the moment actually it's just physiotherapy and that's it. Nothing particular, no medication at the moment, which is a good sign. But it's all down to physiotherapy and rest.

Q. So it has been a gradual improvement?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, I started the medication about three months now, and it has not been an increase in pain. Actually it looks like it's decreasing a little bit. But it's more the stiffness than anything else. When I wake up in the mornings, I'm quite stiff and actually that doesn't go away as the day goes on, and that's somehow stopping me, or at least stopping me from moving freely through the swing.

Q. So what are your expectations this week?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, as I said, I'm going to try to see if I can start hitting better shots. You know, this is a golf course where positioning the ball is very important. You have to hit fairways in order to be able to hit greens. If you miss those greens, you are going to struggle, and with the grass around the greens, the chipping is very difficult. That's why the steady players usually do well around this golf course, players like Miguel last year, players that hit the ball straight off the tee and hit a lot of greens, they usually do well.
My objective is pretty much that, to start hitting better shots more often, and hopefully be able to play four days and see how I feel when the week is over.

Q. You've struggled with injury for most of your career, haven't you?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, twice. '96, '97, and now. The rest of my career, I've been pain-free. I never had any injuries in the sense of neck problems or elbow problems or back problems. It's been those two times but obviously they have been long stretches.

Q. What I was going to ask you was, is this the toughest hurdle as you feel as though you're facing, to get over this next hurdle?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, it's always tough. It was extremely tough what I had to go through in '96, '97. It's similar to that one.
The thing is that it's very hard to regain the rhythm of play, competition. Obviously when you get older, it becomes a little bit more difficult. You don't have the energy level that you have in your 20s, and that makes it a little bit more difficult.

Q. Where is the inspiration coming from; within?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, I love the game. You know, I miss -- to be honest, when I'm at home and I cannot practice, when I watch the boys play those events, there is something inside that is urging me to keep going and to keep trying.

Q. You're being talked about as a possible Ryder Cup Captain, just wondered if you had any thoughts about that or if you discussed it with Nick Faldo or Bernhard Langer.
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: I made my point clear I think. If I recover properly, I still want to give myself a chance for the next Ryder Cup, if that is the case.
After that, well, we'll have to wait and see. But if I feel that I get close to 100 per cent, I'm going to try to play the next Ryder Cup, so that is out of the equation if I'm feeling okay. Direct answer there.

Q. Is your short game still as good as ever?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, I haven't practiced it to be honest. But the short game I think is fair. I mean, I think it's okay.

Q. Did you lose a little bit of the feel?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, actually at Castellon it was extremely good, I have to say. It didn't look like I lost it all that much that week.
No, but I think the short game more or less has been always there. It's been steady all through my career. I might have had stretches where I haven't putt well or I haven't chipped well, but overall, it has been solid. It's the other part that really penalises me in a way. Most of the time is a driver, and nowadays, that is quite important because of the golf courses that we play at nowadays. The fairways are much narrower and because of the shape of the greens and how firm they usually are, you really have to hit those fairways in order to be able to attack the flags.
As I said, maybe that's the weak part. It's been solid in that regard, also, through my career, and that's the part that I need to improve on.

Q. Are you at a stage where you're able to look ahead over one or two or three years to where you want to be going or what you want to do, or is it still almost living day by day?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: No, I still live day by day. I'm not looking that far ahead. Unless you want me to retire. (Laughter) But that's not my intention.
As I said a few minutes ago, I love this game. I miss it a lot. As far as, you know, I feel physically okay, I will keep on trying until the very end.

Q. Your course at Mission Hills will be played again for the World Cup next week. What do you think of the course, first of all, how it turned out, and secondly are you doing more and more designed work?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: You can imagine the answer to that. (Laughter).
No, I think it's a good golf course. If you had seen the land before the golf course was built, you wouldn't have imagined that building a golf course there would have been possible; it was so hilly and they had to remove so much dirt to be able to design the course, that it was quite impressive.
I think it's a fair golf course. It has a combination of par 5s, most of them are reachable, which I think is pretty good. If the guys play aggressive, they can get close to those holes.
And you have tough par 3s on some of the course that are tight and tough. There are a lot of bunkers and at the same time, most of the tees are elevated. Because of the terrain, I didn't want to have any blind tee shots or things like that, so somehow I managed to find those elevations for the tees and so you can have a pretty good view of the fairway when you are standing on the tee.
I think it's a solid golf course, and I think the finishing holes are pretty good, too.

Q. Are you doing more courses now? Are you expanding your design portfolio?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, there is always -- that is back of my mind, but not in the near future, but that's obviously a possibility that is there, and I'm looking forward to that part of my professional career, but in the future. I mean, I tried to do golf courses now and then, but I'm not involved 100 per cent in that regard full-time. I can use some of my time to build a couple of golf courses here and there, but it's not yet a full-time job.

Q. The Race to Dubai and the changes it's bringing about on The European Tour does it inspire you personally to get your game back to your best shape, and what are the general feelings of the players you mix with?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: Well, I think the players are really looking forward to it. The European Tour has taken a step forward in that regard after the U.S. Tour organised the FedExCup. I think that is going to be quite interesting on The European Tour's part to see how everything develops. But most of the players are really quite impressed with the numbers of that event.
Personally, well, it's an extra motivation obviously without a question, without a doubt, but it's not the biggest one in my personal feeling. As I said before, my main goal is to keep on improving. There is certain areas of my game I need to improve on, and that's my main goal. If I achieve that, I will be able to enjoy even more my game and I believe that I will be able to compete against these younger kids.

Q. That 5-iron you hit into the 18th, where does that rate in your career?
JOSÃ‰ MARIA OLAZÃBAL: It was one of my best shots without a doubt. It was a tricky, tricky shot. Obviously I had to hit it under some of the branches of the trees and I had to cut it. The flag was cut short right. There was no room to stop the ball whatsoever. And it was one of the best shots I've hit in my career, yes.
RODDY WILLIAMS: Well, on that note, thank you very much indeed. Good luck this week.

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