By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent
Twice he was asked, twice he politely declined. And although he may be very Spanish, a very British expression is the one chosen by Jose Maria Olazabal to explain why.
"Not my cup of tea," said Olazabal.
Sam Torrance wanted the two-time Masters champion to be one of his Ryder Cup assistants at The Belfry and Bernhard Langer wanted him with him in Detroit as well.
What Olazabal wanted was not to be a member of the backroom staff, but to be back on the team - and now, after a gap of seven years and at the age of 40, his wish for a seventh cap is about to come true.
On the outside looking in Olazabal's rejections to Torrance and Langer could easily have come across as disenchantment with an event he had departed amid fierce controversy in 1999.
His last involvement was the singles clash with Justin Leonard at Brookline. The duel in which Leonard's 45-foot putt at the 17th sent members of the American team delirious with excitement even though Olazabal still had a putt to keep the cup alive.
At the press conference afterwards he spoke sadly - and eloquently - about the appalling breach of etiquette. But as his return to the match approaches he insists he bears no grudges and has accepted the apologies made.
Tom Lehman, United States captain now and one of those at the centre of the storm then, wrote to Olazabal among others to try to heal the wounds, admitting the errors of his ways in the heat of the moment and saying he did not want to lose any friendships over what happened.
Lehman got the response he wanted from a player and person he holds in the highest regard.
"I don't have any hard feelings to be honest," says Olazabal. "I have wonderful memories of the Ryder Cup. Some sad ones obviously, but put everything in one package and it comes out positive.
"The camaraderie, the experience, the joy is there."
His first playing memories, of course, are of partnering Seve Ballesteros. Together they formed the most lethal lasting combination the contest has ever seen - 11 wins, two halves and only two defeats over the course of four matches.
Ballesteros had already been on three sides and won four majors when he took the 21-year-old under his wing at Muirfield Village in 1987.
"People can say as many things as they want to you before your first game, but they can't prepare you for what it's actually like. On the first tee I was shaking like a leaf like never before.
"I didn't really expect it to be that bad. You believe you are going to calm yourself like you have for other important rounds you've played in the past. But a first Ryder Cup is really very special."
Thankfully, Olazabal discovered that the first tee is where the feeling is at its worst and once into the match your nerves settle a bit - especially when you have at your side a man like none you have ever seen before.
"I was mesmerised. Seve had a will to win and determination that I don't think has ever been matched. There were times you just had to wonder what he was made of.
"He took all the pressure off me, telling me not to worry if I hit into the rough or the trees or whatever.
"I remember one hole that year. We were in trouble and the Americans down the fairway. I was thinking of trying what would have been a miraculous recovery from the trees with a four-iron, but Seve said, 'No need, just chip it out and leave me 90 metres to the flag.'
"As we were waiting for them to hit he whispered to me, 'We might still win this hole.' I thought he was bloody mad - they had only about a nine-iron to the green. I thought a half would be fantastic for us.
"They hit and before the ball even lands Seve says, 'You see, I think I am going to be right.' They kick into water, Seve hits to four feet and we win the hole. It was unbelievable."
The last time they played together in the Ryder Cup was at The Belfry in 1993 and fittingly they ended with a win.
Ballesteros, although a fading force by then, made the 1995 team, but although Olazabal was given a wild card he withdrew because he was suffering from what was thought to be rheumatoid arthritis in both his feet.
Reduced to living in a wheelchair and crawling around on the floors at his home Olazabal's comeback - after the discovery that the problem was a disc in his back - was one of the most remarkable in the whole of sport.
He was out of golf for 18 months, but won his third event back, regained his Ryder Cup place under Ballesteros's captaincy in 1997 and lifted his second Masters title two years later.
That was the high point of 1999. The low was the Ryder Cup defeat.
It will be remembered for that putt by Leonard and the green invasion that followed before Olazabal had a chance to try his 25-footer.
But what Olazabal remembers is that he had been four-up earlier in the match and he was unable to convert that into the point that could have kept the trophy in European hands.
Although he did retrieve a half the American celebrations were in full swing. It would be sweet indeed for him if, after a seven-year wait, he was the one to spark a victory party at the K Club.
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