Jose Maria Olazabal

The 1994 Masters champion watched the 1996 Masters from the sofa of his living room in Fuenterrabia, Spain. The television set showed Jose Maria Olazabal what he was missing. Basically, playing golf. Olazabal would have loved to have been there himself, but there was a small problem. He couldn't stand up. At least he was used to it. Since early in 1995, whenever Olazabal stood, his feet hurt so badly the pain nearly made him cry. He didn't touch a golf club for six months.

Jose Maria Olazabal, who will captain the European team in the Ryder Cup later this month, said he was surprised not to see Hunter Mahan on the U.S. team. U.S. captain Davis Love III bypassed Mahan when announcing his picks on Tuesday, choosing Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker. Mahan has won two tournaments this year and has been on the Ryder Cup team five times. "They are very solid picks," Olazabal told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "All the American players from nine to 14 on the list were all very solid and Davis could have picked any four.

Five things to look for on the professional golf scene: 1. Even though Tiger Woods gets most of the attention when anybody talks about the Masters and who could win it, you can be sure that Phil Mickelson is amping up his own preparations, and right now too. Last week, Mickelson had one good round and three so-so rounds at Doral and got out of town with a tie for 20th. He's off this week, but next week, Mickelson is playing the Shell Houston Open to get his putting game in order.

Steve Elkington: His bandwagon might have a flat, so many people are jumping on it. He's certainly playing well enough, isn't he? His wire-to-wire $630,000 victory in the Players Championship was his second win this year, tying Mark O'Meara for the most so far. He has had two top-five finishes at the Masters but missed the cut last year. * Nick Faldo: Anybody for a fourth? He already has won three times at Augusta, including last year. He won at Riviera.

When: Today through Sunday. Site: Augusta National Golf Club. Length: 6,985 yards. Par: 36-36-72. Format: 72 holes of stroke play, sudden-death playoff if necessary. Purse: To be determined ($4 million in 1999). Field: 95 players, including six amateurs. Defending champion: Jose Maria Olazabal. Television (times PDT): Today-Friday, 1-3:30 p.m., USA Network. Saturday, 12:30-3 p.m., CBS. Sunday, 1-4 p.m., CBS TEE TIMES All Times Pacific *--* TODAY FRI. GROUP 5:00 a.m.

It ended in tears Sunday afternoon at Augusta National, which is pretty much the norm whenever Greg Norman jockeys for the lead during the final round of the Masters. By now, it deserves its own bronze and marble historical marker, maybe planted in the shadow of the Eisenhower Pine: On this site in (pick a year), Greg Norman's quest to win the Masters met a sorry demise. Only this time, no one wept for Norman.

The reign in Spain? As far as sports go, Spain is having a pretty nice run in the games division lately. Check the scorecard. Jose Maria Olazabal won the Masters, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Sergi Bruguera won the singles titles at the French Open and Spain is in the World Cup. When the U.S. Open starts today, Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros are going to try to keep the ball going for Spain. Ballesteros said his nation's success has given him more confidence. But that's not all.

How does the defending Masters champion get himself ready to try it again? For Jose Maria Olazabal, it's like this: You play poorly leading up to the tournament, you think a lot about how you felt last year, you talk about your feet and, of course, you brush up on your cliches. The defending champion's news conference was held Tuesday afternoon at Augusta National and Olazabal sat behind a microphone and got rolling. What came out was pure Olazabalspeak, to be sure.

Five things to look for on the professional golf scene: 1. Even though Tiger Woods gets most of the attention when anybody talks about the Masters and who could win it, you can be sure that Phil Mickelson is amping up his own preparations, and right now too. Last week, Mickelson had one good round and three so-so rounds at Doral and got out of town with a tie for 20th. He's off this week, but next week, Mickelson is playing the Shell Houston Open to get his putting game in order.

How does the defending Masters champion get himself ready to try it again? For Jose Maria Olazabal, it's like this: You play poorly leading up to the tournament, you think a lot about how you felt last year, you talk about your feet and, of course, you brush up on your cliches. The defending champion's news conference was held Tuesday afternoon at Augusta National and Olazabal sat behind a microphone and got rolling. What came out was pure Olazabalspeak, to be sure.

When: Today through Sunday. Site: Augusta National Golf Club. Length: 6,985 yards. Par: 36-36-72. Format: 72 holes of stroke play, sudden-death playoff if necessary. Purse: To be determined ($4 million in 1999). Field: 95 players, including six amateurs. Defending champion: Jose Maria Olazabal. Television (times PDT): Today-Friday, 1-3:30 p.m., USA Network. Saturday, 12:30-3 p.m., CBS. Sunday, 1-4 p.m., CBS TEE TIMES All Times Pacific *--* TODAY FRI. GROUP 5:00 a.m.

Here's how bad it is for Greg Norman: He lost to a guy who couldn't even walk a few years ago. Norman didn't win the Masters . . . again. Jose Maria Olazabal did . . . again. That's really all you need to know about what happened Sunday at Augusta National, where Norman trudged up the 18th fairway on his way toward another defeat and the television announcers said that Norman was a classy loser. He should be. He's certainly had enough practice.

Steve Elkington: His bandwagon might have a flat, so many people are jumping on it. He's certainly playing well enough, isn't he? His wire-to-wire $630,000 victory in the Players Championship was his second win this year, tying Mark O'Meara for the most so far. He has had two top-five finishes at the Masters but missed the cut last year. * Nick Faldo: Anybody for a fourth? He already has won three times at Augusta, including last year. He won at Riviera.

The 1994 Masters champion watched the 1996 Masters from the sofa of his living room in Fuenterrabia, Spain. The television set showed Jose Maria Olazabal what he was missing. Basically, playing golf. Olazabal would have loved to have been there himself, but there was a small problem. He couldn't stand up. At least he was used to it. Since early in 1995, whenever Olazabal stood, his feet hurt so badly the pain nearly made him cry. He didn't touch a golf club for six months.

The reign in Spain? As far as sports go, Spain is having a pretty nice run in the games division lately. Check the scorecard. Jose Maria Olazabal won the Masters, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Sergi Bruguera won the singles titles at the French Open and Spain is in the World Cup. When the U.S. Open starts today, Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros are going to try to keep the ball going for Spain. Ballesteros said his nation's success has given him more confidence. But that's not all.

A foreigner won the Masters. And grass is green and water's wet and the Pope is Polish and there are still bear tracks in the woods and the sun sets in the west. Like, what else is new? This is the sixth time in the last seven years a European player has won. You would think this course was in Scotland instead of Georgia. It's one thing if a Scot or a Welshman or even an Aussie or South African wins--but a Spaniard and a German?

A foreigner won the Masters. And grass is green and water's wet and the Pope is Polish and there are still bear tracks in the woods and the sun sets in the west. Like, what else is new? This is the sixth time in the last seven years a European player has won. You would think this course was in Scotland instead of Georgia. It's one thing if a Scot or a Welshman or even an Aussie or South African wins--but a Spaniard and a German?