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Olazabal relishing 'difficult' Ryder Cup challenge

Jose Maria Olazabal is aware of the size of the task ahead © Getty Images

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Jose Maria Olazabal admits it will be "difficult" to retain the Ryder Cup on American soil but the European captain insists his team "will go over there very determined to win".

Olazabal, who was confirmed as Europe's 2012 Ryder Cup captain last week, is relishing the chance to lead his troops at the Medinah Country Club outside Chicago and declared his appointment a "total privilege".

The Spaniard, a Ryder Cup legend having played in seven and been a vice-captain in the last two contests, is already planning for the bi-ennial event, confessing he is hopeful of securing two captain picks for the "tough" Medinah course.

"It's going to be difficult to retain it over there," he told the Guardian. "They have home advantage and Medinah is a tough, tree-lined course. I know it well - and so do most of our players. So, without a doubt, we will go there very determined to win.

"My wish is to have only two but we'll have to wait and see what the committee decides. Two picks is what I want so, obviously, if they agree it will be especially good because I believe the top 10 players over a season deserve to be there.

"If you look at the last Ryder Cup you needed a really good season to qualify. It's not as if you could get away with two or three good weeks. You had to be consistent all year."

Olazabal is likely to have a wealth of talent at his disposal and the two-time Masters champion is licking his lips at the prospect of fielding a team boasting several major winners.

"If you look at our young players - [Graeme] McDowell, [Ian] Poulter, [Paul] Casey, [Martin] Kaymer, Rory [McIllroy] - we have a special group," he said. "They will have more chances to win majors. Until McDowell and Kaymer did it last year I was always asked why Europeans weren't winning any majors.

"I said then it was only a matter of time because we have great players - and they're only going to get better. We also have [world No. 1] Lee Westwood. Lee has a deep feeling for the Ryder Cup. You see it in the way he always fights to be in the team, the way he plays, even the way he moves about the team room. He leads in a very strong way."

While Olazabal dreams of lifting the Ryder Cup alongside long-term friend and fellow Spaniard Seve Ballesteros, he admits that fulfilling his media duties is not something he is overly excited about.

Quiet and reserved by nature, Olazabal is unlikely to crave the spotlight in the way pre-decessor Colin Montgomerie did at Celtic Manor.

"You know me. I'm a quiet person," he said. "But I understand this is a new scenario. I'll fulfil my duties the best I can but don't expect me to be talking too much." Olazábal laughs softly. "That's the way that I am. I'm not going to try and change it."

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