JOSE MARIA Olazabal, speaking publicly for the first time since September 1995, reaffirmed yesterday that he hopes to make his comeback in February 1997.
Olazabal, who has been out of golf for 13 months while being treated for rheumatoid arthritis, was visiting the Perrier Pairs tournament in Bordeaux, just to see some old friends.
The 30-year-old Spaniard, on being told that he had been missed on the tournament scene, said: "How do you think it has been for me? It has been terrible. But I am getting some different physiotherapy and I feel better with the new treatment.
"It is a different ball game. Before I was told to rest, to do nothing. The new guys say exercise, because my muscles have atrophied. If I improve like the doctors expect I will be back on the course in February-March.
Olazabal has already spent three weeks in a sports clinic in Munich that treats the German national Olympic and football teams and expects to go for another three weeks in November.
