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PORTUGAL MASTERSOctober 10, 2012Jose Maria OlazabalVILAMOURA, PORTUGAL PAUL SYMES:ﾃつ Many thanks for joining us.ﾃつ Do you ever get tired or bored of being announced as the winning Ryder Cup Captain? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ Well, it's okay now.ﾃつ No, it's all right.ﾃつ It's great.ﾃつ Obviously it was a very special week, one that I will always remember and treasure.ﾃつ Well, first of all, I think we should thank the players.ﾃつ I didn't do much.ﾃつ They were the ones hitting the shots and they deserve all the credit. PAUL SYMES:ﾃつﾃつ In the random draw remarkably you've been drawn with Martin Kaymer and Francesco Molinari. JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ The luck of the draw, you know. PAUL SYMES:ﾃつ I imagine you'll have quite a bit to discuss with those guys. JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ I'm pretty sure that those guys will try to be focused on this week the same way I'm going to try to do the best I can this week.ﾃつ Obviously we might not say too much about The Ryder Cup, but you know, just with a look in the eyes, I think we pretty much say everything. PAUL SYMES:ﾃつ In some ways are you looking back to becoming a player again rather than having to worry about your captain duties? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ Yeah, I'm just trying to work a little bit on my game and see if I can get a little bit of the game back and be a little bit more competitive than the last couple of years. So that's my target these days.ﾃつ Obviously it's going to take a while.ﾃつ I'm pretty tired at the moment.ﾃつ The last three weeks have been really, really tough.ﾃつ But that's my goal to see if I can regain a little bit of form, and go out there and make a few more birdies than bogeys on the golf course. Q.ﾃつ Talking about being tired, we would all understand that.ﾃつ How is your overall fitness, and now that the Ryder Cup is over, how long do you see your career going on for? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ I don't have a clue to be honest.ﾃつ You know, I have my health issues, still a few pains here and there.ﾃつ I really don't know.ﾃつ We will have to wait and see, and time will tell. Q.ﾃつ How long would you like to go on for? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ Forever.ﾃつ As much as I can, you know, I would love‑‑ I've seen players like Bernhard or some other players, you know, playing well, getting close to their 50s and past their 50s.ﾃつ I would love to do that to be honest, but I know it's tough these days.ﾃつ The level is very high.ﾃつ And, well, it will depend on how good I play.ﾃつ But roughly that's what I'm looking at. Q.ﾃつ What's the reaction been like from the other tour players, the guys that weren't there that watched it on TV?ﾃつ What's the reaction been like from the other guys? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ Pretty much everyone says that to see it on TV, it was very emotional and thrilling.ﾃつ They say that they have not seen any other event like that one on TV, for whatever reason.ﾃつ I mean, but that's pretty much the feedback that I get from‑‑ even from players that obviously they have competed, they have watched major events on TV, for whatever reason, this one, it was special in that regard.ﾃつ Everyone says that they were glued to the TV.ﾃつ You know, and it was kind of nerve‑wracking even for them. Q.ﾃつ Does it bring the Europeans more close together? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ I think we have always been pretty close to each other.ﾃつ I think it was huge for this tour in the sense that we are going through tough times, and a victory like that one, I think it's always going to be nice and good for the Tour. Q.ﾃつ I realize you're not in Turkey this week, but reports coming out of Turkey yesterday that are in the papers all over England tomorrow say that Darren Clarke has got the job as the next captain.ﾃつ Are you on the tournament committee? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ No. Q.ﾃつ But you have not heard anything? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ No, not really, I think it is early days to be honest.ﾃつ I'm surprised of that.ﾃつ Usually, you know, it takes quite a while.ﾃつ It has to go through the committee I think.ﾃつ It has to go through a vote and everything. So I don't know, I think it's just a little bit premature I think.ﾃつ But, we will see. Q.ﾃつ What were your four vice captains? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ They were great.ﾃつ You know all four. Q.ﾃつ But they are different? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ Yes, they are different, that's what I said.ﾃつ In The Ryder Cup, they are different; their approach is different to the game.ﾃつ You know, they see things in a different way.ﾃつ But they are very good at treating people, managing people, getting information from people. And that's‑‑ you know, that's very important, because at the end of the day, when you are the captain of the team, somehow you have to really‑‑ you have to be very careful on how you manage people.ﾃつ People, 12 guys in there, all different, some might need a little bit of love, some others might need a little bit of, you know, a little bit of weeping in there.ﾃつ But at the end of the day, that's what you have to learn beforehand and know what buttons to push and press. All four of them, I think they are very good at that. Q.ﾃつ Without asking you to putt a name to any of them, do you think all four would make good captains eventually? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ I think they have the qualities, yes. Q.ﾃつ All four of them? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ Yes, I think so. Q.ﾃつ Do you feel in a way that your job has not finished; that each time you go to a tournament, you are still captain of the European Ryder Cup Team? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ My job as captain is over (laughing).ﾃつ Doesn't matter if it's two weeks after The Ryder Cup.ﾃつ This is nothing compared to what I've been through. ﾃつSo, no, I know it could last maybe another couple of weeks or until we get a winner this week, and then the attention will be focused on other parts of the Tour. But I know it's going to fade away very soon.ﾃつ So I'm okay with that. Q.ﾃつ Are you very pleased with the way that a lot is dedicated to Seve, but that even at the end of it all, Seve was still mentioned time and time again by players and everybody; so it wasn't a forgotten victory, either? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ No, no, I think Seve's memory is very close to each member of this tour.ﾃつ We know how much he meant to the tour and to the golf in Europe.ﾃつ And it was nice to see players, when everything was over and finished, some of them just grabbing the shirt and looking at the name of Seve and mentioning Seve when everything was done and over. It proves that, you know, his presence is always going to be with us. Q.ﾃつ Question about Ian Poulter, he's in the middle of his career right now, and looking at his past performance and especially his last performance, what would you think of him as a future Ryder Cup Captain? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ He's got a passion (laughter).ﾃつ We cannot deny that.ﾃつ Yeah, he doesn't talk a lot, but when he does, you know, people listens to him.ﾃつ He means every word he says during that week.ﾃつ I'm pretty sure that, you know, in 15 years' time, he's going to be doing that part of the business, yeah. Q.ﾃつ We heard you got a message from the European Union, which is a Portuguese guy‑‑ we heard that you did.ﾃつ This is the first Ryder Cup being played‑‑ in terms of politics, there are tensions between the countries of southern Europe and northern Europe.ﾃつ Did you feel those tensions in your team? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ No. Q.ﾃつ Anyway? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ No, politics and sport don't match. Q.ﾃつ Don't you think it's a nice symbol the way you held together? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ I think so.ﾃつ That should be the goal for everyone.ﾃつ But politics are politics, and politics and sports, you know, I like sports better.ﾃつ Let's put it that way. There was not any tension whatsoever between Germany or Italy or Spain.ﾃつ Actually it was just the opposite. Q.ﾃつ Everything morning, do you wake up, is there one defining moment that you remember? JOSﾃ窶ｰ MARIA OLAZﾃδ。AL:ﾃつ No, not now. ﾃつI recall lot of moments, but there is one that stands out and that is the Saturday afternoon matches.ﾃつ Those were crucial.ﾃつ I said it all along.ﾃつ Sergio and Luke and Poulter, and Rory winning those two points, and the way everything unfold, I think that was the key to the whole come back on Sunday. If I have to just choose one moment at that Ryder Cup or the most important moment from my point of view, that will be it.ﾃつ It changed the whole spirit within the team. PAUL SYMES:ﾃつ Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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