Olazabal: Spanish star

Olazabal is somebody you can turn to for advice or help and he would always give you his time willingly - and that's a great thing in the game of golf.

Mark Roe
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Plenty of people will tell you that Jose Maria Olazabal was the life and soul of the European Ryder Cup team at Valhalla.

I've spoken to friends and clients who were in the team and they've told me how he brought an awful lot of spirit to the camp. It's clear he worked tirelessly to keep the mood of the players positive.

The job he did as vice-captain has been warmly complimented by everybody I have spoken to and at some point in his career he is undoubtedly going to become a Ryder Cup captain in his own right.

I can't say whether that will be for the next match or even the one after that, but I'm sure at some stage he will be a very strong candidate for the captaincy.

He has an awful lot of qualities that will count in his favour. He's hugely popular among the players and he carries a wonderful blend of humour and experience with him, having been a major champion and one of our greatest players over the years.

He's a gentleman in everything he does. He was always an absolute pleasure to play with and always had positive things to say to everybody. He is somebody you can turn to for advice or help and he would always give you his time willingly - and that's a great thing in the game of golf.

I played a lot of golf with him and spent a lot of time around him during my 22 years as a Tour professional. There was never one moment when I didn't have total respect for him as a person.

So for both the emerging players and the guys that have played alongside him, he would make a fine captain - but of course he is still talking about going to Celtic Manor as a player. It's unlikely that he would take the captaincy, even if he is offered it, if there are thoughts in his mind of playing in the next Ryder Cup.

I don't know what his levels of fitness are but it's fabulous to see him playing in Madrid this week. He did make an attempt to play earlier this year and he was pleased just to get through four rounds of golf.

I haven't spoken to him but hopefully he's confident and things are getting better for him on the fitness side of things. He's only 42 and guys have won majors in their forties in the past, so who's to say he won't find top form again if he manages to find some fitness?

The guy is pure class. He has the most amazing short game, he's one of the straightest hitters the game has ever seen and whilst his driving was his weakness, the other aspects of his game were flawless.

He's a truly great champion and you certainly wouldn't rule him out of playing in another Ryder Cup.

Good health

He's obviously a huge star in Spain and as we head to Madrid, it is clear that Spanish golf is in good health.

It's a shame we don't see more of their true superstar Sergio Garcia, who plies his trade mainly in America. I believe he's planning to play more golf in Europe in the coming season, which will be fabulous because he's one of the biggest draws in the game of golf.

But of course we've seen plenty of Miguel Angel Jimenez, who's had another brilliant season including a win at our flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Once again he breezed into the Ryder Cup team on the back of a fabulous season of performances. He seems to churn them out every year.

He's got a fabulous repetitive golf swing that works under pressure, he's a consummate scorer and we've seen his name at the top of the leaderboard so many times now that you always expect him to contend and finish the job. He's a very classy performer.

He's fourth in the Order of Merit at the moment, but I feel the gap between him and leader Robert Karlsson will be too much to make up. It would need the leading protagonists to make very little between now and the end of the season and for Jimenez to win once or twice. I think that's unlikely.

I see it as a three-horse race now between Karlsson, Padraig Harrington and Lee Westwood and I can't finish this week's column without applauding the Swede on another wonderful victory last weekend.

Karlsson's year has been magnificent and it's peaked with wins just before and after the Ryder Cup. His performances in the majors have also been sensational and he had a fine summer when he finished second, third and third in consecutive events.

He is now simply a world-class player who should have major championship wins in his sights. Apart from Tiger Woods, he's every bit as good as anybody else in the world.

If he continues to play as well as he has been I see no reason why he can't finish the season winning the Order of Merit. With the fine run of form he's on you'd have to say it's his to lose now.