Olazabal names Miguel Angel Jimenez as his fourth vice captain
European Ryder Cup Captain, Jose Maria Olazabal has named his fourth and final vice captain. Miguel Angel Jiménez will be accompanying Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley as a Vice-Captain at Medinah. Jimenez brings with him bundles of Ryder Cup
experience.
Olazabal who himself has played in numerous Ryder Cup’s said, “Miguel’s announcement means that I now have four world class golfers as my Vice Captains – all with tremendous experience of playing in The Ryder Cup which is absolutely invaluable”.
Jimenez was part of the 2010 Ryder Cup and to his credit, he won all his four matches then. Olazabal has been very methodical and precise in selecting his backroom staff.
Thomas, Darren, and Paul were with Olazabal as the vice captains in the 2010 European Cup, so he knows them very closely and has the experience of working with them.
Apart from the professional experience, Olazabal is friends with all the four guys. He knows their philosophy and strength. Plus the most important factor is that he knows that he can trust them perfectly.
All the four vice captains have played in total of fourteen Ryder Cups and registered eleven victories.
This is a magnificent achievement by them and it is the only the reason that Olazabal has chosen them because he knows they bring with them mental strength and experience.
Jimenez was the right hand man of Seve Ballesteros in 1997, when Seve led the European Ryder Cup team to victory at Valderrama in Spain.
In Wales, 2010 when Europe won the Ryder Cup, Jimenez twice beat the likes of Bubba Watson. This clearly shows the quality which he posses.
Jimenez was extremely happy about the fact that Olazabal has confidence in him and he recalled his Ryder Cup experiences.
He said, “Fifteen years after being alongside Seve, it’s great to be Vice Captain to José María. I remember being woken at 3am by Seve for team talks”.
“I would not be telling the truth if I didn’t say that I would have liked to have been playing again but next to that I could not be happier than to be a Vice Captain alongside Darren, Thomas and Paul”.
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