IT WAS the late Mark McCormack who once called Jose Maria Olazabal, "a strange guy. He just doesn't care about the money he could be making." While the International Management Group founder's bewilderment stemmed mostly from the fact that Olazabal was not - and still isn't - a client of the Cleveland-based conglomerate, his rather insulting comment was surely an indication of his own shallow materialism rather than any shortcoming on the part of the Spaniard, who is now 40.
Take this weekend. The two-time Masters champion is here in Scotland competing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, and is doing so not for any particular financial gain: he made the trip purely for the joy of playing links golf and of performing on the Old Course at St Andrews, in particular.
Which is easy to understand. Now competing basically full-time in the US, the Dunhill represents for Ollie a rare opportunity to escape the seemingly-endless tedium of life on the PGA Tour. Never a fan of American culture, the proud Basque, one of golf's most accomplished shot-makers inside 150 yards from the hole, is increasingly frustrated by the on-course sameness that he endures almost every week.
"What I don't like is that there is less artistry in the game now," he sighs. "And the set-up of the courses contributes to that. When you have rough that is five inches high, not even a magician can create shots.
"I do believe players still have the skill. They can shape the shots, hit them high or low. But we don't find ourselves in situations where creativity is encouraged. As technology has advanced, players have hit more and more fairways, so the courses have adjusted. One seems to have led to the other, in an attempt to keep scores up.
"Now we have rough right up to the edge of the green. There is no imagination in that. All the long grass hurts people like me. I don't mind rough off the tee so much; there should be a penalty for being in the wrong place. But around the greens, it is silly. You can hit a shot to 15 feet from the hole and be just off the green, and another guy can hit to 45 feet, but on the green. He has the better chance. That is not right.
"They kill off imagination. There is only one shot. You don't have to think. Miss the green? Give me the 60-degree wedge, and I'll flop it up there. All the touch and finesse is gone.
"The great sadness is that you can make courses just as difficult - and so much more interesting - without any rough. And there is no need to have courses that are 7,500 yards long. I look at guys like Justin Leonard and Corey Pavin and wonder how they can compete most weeks. I'm not sure we are on the right path. Courses are getting longer and longer, and we see fewer and fewer where length is not the biggest factor in success. Which doesn't make it fair for everyone."
On a happier note, Olazabal is still basking contentedly in the lingering afterglow of his return to Ryder Cup duty after seven years away and, of course, Europe's crushing victory over the Americans at the K Club.
"Jose was obviously really excited to be there," says team-mate Paul Casey. "He showed great enthusiasm for everything that was going on, and was obviously trying to enjoy the week no matter what. And that all fed into the other players.
"I wouldn't want to play him in match-play. He has the sort of game where he is always liable to hit the spectacular shot or get up and down from somewhere strange. So he was a great asset to the side both on and off the course."
That he was. In the three matches he played - two in tandem with compatriot Sergio Garcia - Ollie emerged with three victories and more great memories to add to the ample Ryder Cup store he had compiled between 1987 and '99.
"It was very special for a few reasons," he says with a smile. "It was my first time playing for a while. Having Darren [Clarke] in the side drew everyone together even more, I think. And the result was very positive, mostly because of how the crowds responded to us and treated us. It was a unique atmosphere. This was my seventh Ryder Cup, and I have to say that it was easily the most special.
"The only thing that felt different was that, the last time I played, I was one of the youngest players in the team. This time only Monty was older. I felt the difference! I certainly felt older."
One thing that did stay the same was Ollie making up half of a potent Spanish partnership that was an integral part of the side's success, even if the contrast in the play of his two famous cohorts could hardly be more marked. Where Seve Ballesteros was perhaps one of the wildest drivers of his generation, Garcia is one of the most consistent today.
"Playing with Sergio kept me young," he claims, the smile returning. "Sergio was fantastic. On the first day he was just unbelievable. He played so well. It's true that I managed to make four or five holes, but he carried the whole team really. I was pretty much there watching his performance. I hope my presence was a small factor in how well he played, but the fact is that he played awesome golf. He drove the ball beautifully, split the fairway on nearly every hole, and barely missed a shot.
"He was six under par by himself for 16 holes. It is true that I jumped in here and there, but that was about it!
"It was completely different from playing with Seve. Seve and I stood on the tee, hit our drives, then said: 'See you on the green!' With Sergio, it was the exact opposite. He is such a solid player. You know he is going to be in every hole, which allowed me to play with a more relaxed attitude. I knew he would hit every fairway, so I was able to stand on the tee with a lot of confidence. He was such a help to me."
In the wake of what seems to have become a biennial bashing of Uncle Sam's increasingly beleaguered nephews, other comparisons have been made. Until now, the 1987 squad that pulled off Europe's fist win on US soil - and contained six present and future major champions in Olazabal, Seve, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer - have been almost universally recognised as the Old World's finest. But Ollie is one who feels that proud boast may now be unsustainable.
"This year's team was different from 1987," he maintains. "Back then we had maybe the best five players in the world. Now we have so many more good players, guys you can rely on. They are just so solid.
"It wasn't always that way. In 1987 we had Eamonn Darcy in the team. Now, with all due respect to Eamonn, he probably wouldn't make the team today. So the two teams were very different. In '87 we had five stars and the rest of us. Yes, we were good players, but it wasn't like today. From top to bottom this team is more consistent and more solid than the one in 1987."
As for the future and the Ryder Cup, in particular, there seems little doubt that Ollie is a captain-in-waiting. After Faldo's turn at the helm in 2008, the popular Basque would seem a logical choice for Wales in 2010. He would certainly welcome the chance to lead a European side on this side of the pond.
"I would love to do it in Europe," he confirms. "In the States, on their own turf, the atmosphere is more for them, so it feels different.
"I want to be part of it at home. I want to feel the atmosphere we have had at Valderrama in 1997, and this year in Ireland."
Hopefully, he will get his chance. No-one, as McCormack highlighted all those years ago, would bring more integrity to the role.
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