Olazabal back as master craftsman

Tactically superb and courageous beyond words, Jose-Maria Olazabal captured the US Masters for a second time here yesterday. With a final round of 71 for an eight-under-par aggregate of 280, he surmounted slippery greens, swirling winds and severe pin placements to take a winner's cheque of $720,000 by two strokes from Davis Love.

As the final scene was enacted in a thrilling drama, it was Olazabal's playing partner, Greg Norman, who shared the stage with him. And it was impossible not to feel for the wonderfully gracious Australian, when a climactic embrace became one of consolation, just as it was when he lost to Nick Faldo three years ago.

It was also three years ago that Olazabal could barely walk, because of a serious foot complaint. Yet, in certain respects, there was a far greater authority about this triumph than when he beat Tom Lehman by a stroke here in 1994.

"This means a lot more to me than five years ago," he said. "When I won then, I didn't have the knowledge or the time to enjoy it properly. This time I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy it more, for two reasons. The first is because of the problems I've been through, and the second is because of the way I won out there today. It was very satisfying."

Norman, meanwhile, was left to ponder yet another lost opportunity of securing the title most dear to his heart. In 19 Masters, he has now been in the top three for a fifth time, including two second-place finishes, in 19 challenges. Yet remarkably, he remains undaunted.

"It was a successful week and a sad week all rolled into one," he said. "In discovering that I could now contend again (after shoulder surgery 12 months ago), there is the sadness of not winning. There was a lot of emotion from the crowd out there, and Ollie was in control, just going about his business."

Of the many memorable Spanish moments at this celebrated venue, this was particularly special. For earlier in the afternoon, Olazabal's 19-year-old compatriot, Sergio Garcia, became the first European winner of the amateur silver medal.

Olazabal had led Norman by a stroke overnight. During the course of a dramatic day, however, six players were at the top of the leaderboard at one stage or another, and five of them - Love, Steve Pate, Lee Westwood, Olazabal and Norman - were actually tied for the lead at one stage.

The defining moment, however, came on the long, 485-yard 13th, which is no stranger to drama. Here, Norman seemed to have struck a telling blow when he reached the green in two and then rolled in a 22-foot putt for an eagle three. Suddenly, he was seven under par and leading the tournament on his own.

But it lasted little more than a minute. Having laid up in two and pitched to 20 feet, Olazabal went on to roll in the birdie putt to reclaim a share of the lead. "When I made that four, I knew the green jacket should be mine," said the Spaniard. "That was when Greg looked at me and I looked at him and we both knew how important it was."

His tactical brilliance was again in evidence two holes later, when he again laid up at a seductive par five. After Norman had pushed a desperately poor wedge shot of 98 yards into the right-hand bunker on the 15th, Olazabal declined to go for the green from a strong position, 229 yards out.

Instead, he laid up and proceeded to knock a wedge to 12 feet from where he made a safe, two-putt par, whereas Norman overhit his bunker recovery and made bogey.

By that stage, the gap over the Shark had become two strokes and the more serious threat to Olazabal's aspirations seemed likely to come from Love, who jumped into the picture by pitching into the hole for an amazing birdie at the short 16th. And it was this hole which gave the Spaniard his victory cushion.

He hit a superb shot to little more than three feet from the hole before Norman's finished eight feet past. And when the Australian missed and Olazabal holed, the gap between the two was three strokes.

When David Duval birdied the 18th to set a target of three under par, no fewer than 10 other players were in with a chance of winning. And a measure of Olazabal's achievement in breaking clear of the pack was when Duval said, with a typical economy of words, "It was very hard out there."

As it happened, his challenge was destroyed by a double-bogey at the re-designed, 455-yard 11th which became the most difficult hole on the course. Westwood, who took up the British challenge after Ian Woosnam had sparkled briefly, also came to grief with a double-bogey there.

Against that background, it was richly ironic that Norman should have birdied it from 25 feet. But at the end of it all, he was squarely beaten by a superior player on the day, a master craftsman in every sense.