Oz in Spain

Spain’s King Juan Carlos was presented with a European team replica polo shirt from the 2012 Ryder Cup’s “Miracle Sunday” when he received the three Spanish members of the triumphant team for a private audience at the Palacio de la Zarzuela. Joining the monarch for a 40-minute chat about the event were captain José María Olazábal, vice captain Miguel Ángel Jiménez (also a vice captain at Valderrama in 1997, when Juan Carlos officially inaugurated the Cup match eventually won by captain Seve Ballesteros’s European team) and the only Spaniard who made the team in Chicago, Sergio García.

OzinSpain has been mildly disparaging about the Ryder Cup in the past (Ryder Hype Runneth Over), arguing that it might be über-significant for US and European players and fans but considerably less so for the overwhelming 90 per cent majority of the rest of the world: i.e. Africa, Asia, South America, Oceania and all the Americas apart from the US. […]

Stacey Keating celebrates with caddie/boyfriend Darren Peters

Australian Nikki Garrett made a scorching start to the 2012 Tenerife Open de España Femenino but it was compatriot Stacey Keating who eventually left Golf Las Américas with the main silverware. […]

When Lieutenant-Coronel Antonio Tejero and his band of military misfits infamously stormed Spain’s Cortes (parliament) on 23 February and shot several machine gun rounds into the air most of the deputies dropped terrified to the floor and hid. Except for three: acting minister of defence and deputy prime minister General Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado, who remonstrated with Tejero and ordered him to desist, acting prime minister Adolfo Suárez… and Communist Party leader Santiago Carrillo, who calmly lit a cigarette (they were different times) and remained seated.

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The new champion and his wife Alicia Carriles (Photo: Getty Images)

Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño was one of four high-ranked Spaniards hoping to make his Ryder Cup debut this year. In the end he, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Álvaro Quíros and Pablo Larrazábal fell short in the qualification process – and failed to gain a wild-card selection from captain José María Olazábal to join the only Spaniard in the 2012 team, Sergio García (Miguel Ángel Jimñénez is also one of Chema’s vice-captains). […]

After making his first appearance in a professional event at the same course where his celebrated father made his professional debut, Javier Ballesteros Botín teed up for his second tournament at the emblematic scene of Seve’s final victory. […]

Junta in hot water with European Tour… Sergio García on the way to victory in 2011 (Photo: Fernando Herranz)

Valderrama’s pre-eminent role on the Spanish golfing scene could have come to an undignified end after the effectively 11th hour cancellation of the third edition of the Andalucía Masters, due to be held from 18 to 21 October.

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Sota, Mª Acacia and TV presenter Carlos García-Hirschfeld, in Pedreña in 2009 (Photo: Fernando Herranz)

Severiano Ballesteros was the first Spanish golfer to shine in the international spotlight but it was his uncle Ramón Sota who helped pave the way when the game was effectively in its infancy in Spain.

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(Photo: Getty Images)

One of Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s most celebrated contributions to past European Ryder Cup challenges has been his liberal supply of Spanish wine. This year, there will no doubt be another crate or two in the cargo hold as the team heads across the Atlantic to Chicago but once on American soil the Spanish star will be providing another key weapon to the defending Europeans’ arsenal. […]

A scene from Camera Cafe with Arturo Valls

It’s that time of the year for otherwise under-employed marketing types to keep themselves busy – and entertained. At Personality Media, they carried out a survey among men to determine this season’s most attractive Spanish woman. And the winner was… actress and presenter Carolina Cerezuela. Born in Elche (Alicante) in 1980, she is best known professionally for her role as Mónica Salazar en the Telecinco comedy series Camera Café (2005-2009) and personally for her relationship with 1998 French Open tennis champion Carlos Moya… they have a two-year-old daughter (Carla) and are expecting a second child in November.