Ryder Cup: Jose Maria Olazabal hopes to make Seve Ballesteros proud
Last updated on .From the section Golf
Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal says he hopes to make former friend and mentor Seve Ballesteros proud when he leads Europe against the United States next year in Illinois.
Ballesteros, who captained Europe to Ryder Cup glory in 1997, died this year aged 54 following a brain tumour.
Olazabal told US skipper Davis Love at a year-to-go news conference: "I know that your father passed away early.
"All I can hope for is that both of them will be proud of us [next year]."
Europe will head to the Medinah Country Club next September looking to defend the trophy they narrowly won at Celtic Manor last year and attempting to make it five wins in six attempts against the Americans.
And Olazabal, who shares a long friendship with Love, is confident the event will be played in the right spirit.
The event has not been without its controversies down the years, with Brookline in 1999 and Kiawah Island in 1991 most notably seeing tensions rise between the two rivals.
"It is right to say that in the past we had some incidents, but those are in the past and I think we are moving in the right direction in that regard," said the Spaniard.
"The fact that every time now when the Ryder Cup is played whoever the winner is, it doesn't matter, both teams will get together and have a good time."
The 2012 Ryder Cup takes place from 25-30 September.
