Playing in the Ryder Cup has been one of the most memorable and exciting times of my career, and I have been lucky enough to qualify for the European Team on four occasions.  There is no other sensation like I get when walking on to the 1st Tee at the Ryder Cup.

My first experience came as a Vice Captain to Seve Ballesteros in 1997 at Valderrama, in my home region of Andalucia, Spain.  From that moment I was desperate to be in the Team and I qualified in 1999 to play at Brookline.  Although the result wasn’t what the Europeans had hoped for, I had experienced the incredible feeling of camaraderie within the Team and made it a goal of mine to try my hardest to qualify in future.

2004 at Oakland Hills, Michigan, was the next time I qualified to play and I will never forget that!  Europe won by the largest margin in the history of the event.

Since then I have played on a losing side at Valhalla, Kentucky in 2008, a victorious side at Celtic Manor in Wales in 2010 and been Vice Captain in Europe’s incredible achievement at the “miracle of Medinah” and the win at Gleneagles.

All very special times in my career.

To have the chance to represent your country is an honour, and I have been fortunate enough to play for Spain fourteen times in the World Cup.  I am not sure if this is a record, but I think it must be close!

Of those occasions our team has been Runners Up twice, in 2004 at Real Club de Golfe in Seville not too far from my home, when I partnered Sergio Garcia, and again in 2008 at Mission Hills, China, with my very close friend on Tour, Pablo Larrazábal.

The World Cup has taken me to some very exciting destinations and it’s always fun to team up with a good friend and compatriot against the other countries in the world.

In 2000, Seve Ballesteros created the Seve Trophy, a team competition consisting of a team from Continental Europe and a team from Great Britain and Ireland.  I am the only European golfer to have played in every one of the Seve Trophy events.  In 2013 Continental Europe finally came out on top having lost every one since the first event at Sunningdale.  At last!

One of the highlights of 2014, was being asked by the European Tour to be a Playing Captain at the first EurAsia Cup presented by DRB-HICOM, a match play team event between Europe and Asia.  Naturally I was honoured and very pleased to accept the opportunity, and our Team set out in March for The Glenmarie Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur.  My friend, ThongchaiJaidee was my opposite, as Playing Captain of Team Asia, and as we expected, the Asian team were very strong competitors.  At the end of Day 1, Team Europe was in a very strong position, but Team Asia fought back on Day 2 and on the Final Day had an incredible performance.  In the end we shared the Trophy which was a fitting result for the first EurAsia Cup.

Finally, I must not forget about the Alfred Dunhill Cup, a very special team event we played up until 2000 on the Old Course at St Andrew’s in Scotland.  Teams of three represented their country in a match play event, and I am very happy to have been a part of the Spanish team that won in 1999 with Sergio García and José María Olazábal, and the last tournament in 2000 with Miguel Ángel Martín and again with José María. Great fun despite battling the wind and rain in Scotland in October!