The Grove, Watford, England.

Champion Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal has returned to the European Tour from an 18-month injury absence declaring Darren Clarke’s European Team were always unlikely to bring home the Ryder Cup.

Olazabal, who was the winning 2014 Captain at Medinah, is contesting this week’s British Masters north of London.

Since captaining Europe to victory in the 2014 Ryder Cup the now 50-year old Olazabal has contested just six events as the Spaniard struggled with continuing inflammation at the extremity of the tendons brought on by rheumatoid arthritis.

Jose Maria Olazabal getting back to work after an 18-month injury absence.

Olazabal last competed in missing the halfway cut at the 2015 Masters.

However, he has spent the past five weeks getting ready for his return to competition practicing at his own designed, San Sebastian course and less than a 10-kilometre drive from his Fuenterrabia home in northern Spain.

“The last two weeks, I have played six rounds and that’s about all I could manage,” he said.

“So it’s going to be nice to get a score-card back into my pocket this week but it could depend on the numbers if it’s going to be a decent week.

Jose Maria Olazabal begins practicing on The Grove practice range.

“I am feeling better but I’m still not 100 per cent fit.  The pain is not so bad now, it gets a bit painful from time to time but that’s just getting old.

“So I am going to play this week and next week’s Portugal Masters and see how it goes,”

Among the first to greet Olazabal, and with a big hug on The Grove practice range, was England’s Lee Westwood who had won two of three matches in 2012 under Olazabal’s ‘Miracle at Medinah’ captaincy but returned home from Hazetline without a single point.

A fortnight ago, Olazabal had been glued to the TV watching coverage of the Ryder Cup and declaring the USA Team simply played the better golf.

“I watched every single shot in the Ryder Cup and the Americans just played better than we did,” he said.

Jose Maria Olazabal greets Lee Westwood on The Grove practice range.

“The way that Davis (Love 111) had the golf course set-up meant it was always going to be hard for Europe to win.

“There was just no rough out there and someone saying to me that there were five eagles and 72 birdies during the Singles and not all matches went the full 18-hole distance.

“I believe also the scores were the best in any Ryder Cup and that was quite impressive with guys like Sergio 10-under par in the match with Phil (Mickelson) including four under for his last four holes.

“The Europeans can hold their heads high but they just came up against a red-hot American side who holed more putts than the Europeans.”