José María Olazábal is hoping to carry his form from Augusta National into senior golf after playing the weekend at the Masters Tournament for the first time in seven years.
The 1994 and 1999 champion had not made the cut since 2014 when he made his way down Magnolia Lane on Thursday, with only two under par rounds in 15 years as injuries prevented the all-time European Tour great from showing his brilliant best.
He had also not played a competitive round since this event in November but the 55-year-old opened with rounds of 75-71 to make the cut - an achievement that could not be matched by World Number One and defending champion Dustin Johnson and a host of other big names many years Olazábal's junior.
Two more rounds of 75 - finished with a big celebration after a birdie from 23 feet on the 72nd hole - saw the Spaniard finish at eight over and he is now hoping to carry some momentum into the over-50s game.
"A special week," he said. "Really proud of making the cut. Happy the way I played.
A birdie to finish a memorable and emotional week for José María Olazábal 👏#themasters pic.twitter.com/8i0lc3VhUi
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) April 11, 2021
"It's true that I mis-hit a few shots here and there that cost me dearly, especially today on seven and eight, but the rest of the round I played solid today.
"It was pretty much the same all week long and, in that regard, I take quite a few positive things from this week.
"Great to be here at the weekend.
"It's true that I hit a lot of fairways this week but still not as sharp as the rest of the game and that's the area that I need to improve on. If I do that, the rest of the game at least this week was pretty nice.
"The idea is to play as much as possible on the Champions Tour and see if I can somehow enjoy the game as I did this week."
