European Tours Prepare Olazabal for Bad Weather At Tournament
by Stephanie Morgan, Columbus Wired Columnist (May 31, 2003)

The weather at Muirfield was not what one would call forgiving today. At ten this morning, it appeared that the sun was breaking through the clouds and the temperature was a comfortable 67 degrees.

That would be the high point of the day.

Everyone assumed that last night’s rain would make the course less forgiving today. Par, it was assumed, would be a great round. Among those players currently ranked 10th or higher, only 9 of 15 managed par or better today.

Still, Jose Maria Olazabal managed to separate himself from the pack by not only having the best round of the day, but by having one of the best rounds of the tournament. At an impressive six-under-par, Olazabal left the cold, windy and rain-threatening fields with a 66. (The next best round today was a 2-under-par.)

Olazabal compares today’s round to his career-best 1990 NEC World Series of Golf 9-under-par 61. “These round are close to being as good as that 61 I had there. That day it was wonderful. There was not a bit of breeze. The weather conditions that day were fantastic. Obviously, today, here it’s a different story, and to shoot 66, you know, I think it’s really close to that 61.”

Olazabal has made two prior appearances at Muirfield and this is only the second time that he has made the cut. His best appearance was in 1987 where he finished tied for 46th. Today’s round has left him tied for 3rd.

Golfers and spectators alike have suffered with a day that has included a 46-minute rain delay, 17 mph winds gusting up to 25 mph and temperatures dropping down to an unseasonable 57 degrees. One has to wonder, is this as bad as it gets? As a seasoned European Tour player, Olazabal points out the obvious advantage to playing in Europe, “I played in awful weather conditions. If you play Europe, sooner or later you are going to have much worse conditions than this one.”

Still, the honor is just in being here. Like so many other players this year, he wanted to play in both tournaments, but scheduling simply would not permit. This has not been for lack of trying to find compromises in the two schedules. “I’ve always talked to Jack [Nicklaus] about this and I’ve always tried to play this tournament, but it was very hard…The Volvo PGA…is our most important tournament in Europe apart from the British Open.” Olazabal continued, “Because most of the years, it was played the same week. This year was the first year in a while that didn’t happen and obviously, I took the chances straightaway.”

This could prove to be a lucrative two weeks for Olazabal. Last week, he finished tied for 48th at the Volvo PGA, taking home approximately $18,500.00. If he were to maintain his 3rd place ranking through tomorrow, he could take home as much as $340,000.

Olazabal, is not looking for a repeat of today’s weather, “I’m not hoping that [the same forecast] because I know that it’s not going to be like this. The weather forecast is much better for tomorrow.”

Tomorrow’s forecast is, in fact, considerably better. It is expected to be Sunny with a High of 67 degrees.