Laureation address: José María Olazábal

Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws
Laureation by Louise Taylor, Head of Development Operations

Tuesday 12 July 2022

Vice-Chancellor, it is my privilege to present for the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, José María Olazábal. 

If ever there was a man destined for a life on the links, it is José María Olazábal. On 4 February, 1966, the Real Golf Club de San Sebastián opened. José María’s mother Juliana flew the flag to mark the completion of the first nine holes and one day later, in a house on the course where his grandfather was a greenkeeper, José María was born. 

By the age of two, his talents with a golf club were apparent, and this developed into a glittering amateur career that saw him claim the Spanish and Italian Amateur Championships, José María won the Boys, the Youths, and the Amateur Championships, and the Silver Medal as leading amateur at the 1985 Open Championship (an event won of course by fellow honorand Sandy Lyle). The Open itself is the only R&A event not on José María’s stellar list of achievements.

After turning professional, José María was immediately successful. In 1986, he was the European Tour’s Rookie of the Year. And a year later he was a member of the first European team to win the Ryder Cup on American soil. In celebration, José María performed a particularly memorable dance across the 18th green at Muirfield Village Golf Club. 

It was in the Ryder Cup, of course, that José María became half of the most successful partnership the biennial contest has yet seen. He and compatriot Seve Ballesteros amassed a peerless record of eleven wins and two halves from their fifteen matches together. And who could forget the 2012 Ryder Cup – the Miracle at Medinah. José María was the motivational non-playing captain of a European side that came back from a 10-6 overnight deficit to defeat the Americans in one of the most incredible finales ever in sport. 

One of the best iron players of any generation, José María has won more than thirty times around the world. In 2009, he was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. He was part of the Spanish team who won the last ever Alfred Dunhill Cup event here in St Andrews in 2000. But of course, the highlights of his career are the Masters Tournaments he won in 1994 and 1999. 

Today, José María plays on the PGA Tour Champions and has designed twenty-three courses across the globe. But in all that international travel José María is happiest away from the public eye spending time with his parents Gaspar and Juliana at home in Fuenterrabía. 

Also, without seeking publicity, he devotes time to charitable causes, in particular Sport Mundi based in his hometown, which funds projects worldwide. Along with fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal he has run charity tournaments and provided free and generally unrecognised coaching and golf clinics in support of up-and-coming young golfers. 

It hasn’t all been upward progress, however. Between his two Masters victories, José María was stricken by a back issue which left him, at one stage, barely able to walk. He was forced to miss the 1995 Ryder Cup and most of the next two years. Returning to golf would have been achievement enough, but José María’s indomitable spirit drove him to that remarkable second Green Jacket. In a further display of his strength of character during that awful time, he returned a cheque to a sponsor, explaining he had not earned the money. 

Such examples of integrity are far from unusual in José María. His sportsmanship on and off the course was recognised in 2013 when he was presented with the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, which marks not only sporting prowess but the recipient’s personal values. In part, the citation read, “[José María] is a worthy successor to the spirit of the legendary Severiano Ballesteros. The jury has taken into account the commendable capacity to go even further that Olazábal has shown throughout his long and brilliant career, along with his competitive spirit and qualities as a human being admired by all.”

Those words epitomise José María’s standing in the world of sport. He is universally admired not only as a golfer, but – more importantly – as a person. His late manager and close friend, Sergio Gomez, once said of him, “he really doesn't care about financial success. His only ambition is to be a good player and to feel well in his own skin."

Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of his major contribution to the game of golf and the ideals of sportsmanship, I invite you to confer the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on José María Olazábal.