\"Seve

He set the agenda for an era and elevated European – not to mention Spanish – golf to a new level and status, thanks to a spectacular game blessed with incredible shots and extraordinary results. At 54, Seve has put away his clubs one final time, but his legacy and charisma will live on in our memories. Over two golden decades, between 1976 and 1995, he won 87 titles around the world on all five continents, 50 of those on the European Tour, and collected five Grand Slam titles (1979, 1984 and 1988 British Open and 1980 and 1983 US Masters).

“It was the hardest decision of my life.” With these words, at a press conference at Carnoustie during the 2007 British Open, Seve announced his retirement from the game. Problems with arthritis, his back and his knee had kept him in dry dock, as far as top performances were concerned, for several years.

Probably the same problems that had prompted him to abandon the US PGA Champions (or Seniors) Tour barely one week after announcing his debut on the circuit. That February life had struck one of its cruellest possible blows when his girlfriend was killed in a traffic accident, leaving his decision to continue playing in the air. The truth was Seve – the “Spanish matador”, as the British dubbed him – had taken part in only two events the whole season.

His first was the US Masters, where he carded 86 and 80, and he also played in the Regios Charity Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, in mid-May, ending his participation with rounds of 78, 81 and 73 and finishing last in the Champions Tour event

“For various months there had been something confusing within me, an internal fight. My head was saying, \'You should retire\', and my heart was saying, \'You should continue to play and compete\'. For a while, it was difficult to make up my mind. I have to say that golf has given me so much it would be really hard to give back even 25 per cent of what I have obtained from it. It gave me the pleasure to compete and experience the glory of winning. It gave me the chance to travel the world and meet great people who appreciated what I had done. I feel like someone who is very, very fortunate and very appreciative of everything that has happened over the past 30 years.”

The early years

Born on 9 April 1957, the Cantabrian star from Pedreña, a small town located to the south of Santander Bay, began his passionate relationship with golf inspired by the family scene around him. His father, Baldomero, worked as a gardener at Royal Pedreña Golf Club, and one of his mother’s brothers, Ramón de la Sota, was one of Europe’s leading golfers during the ‘60s (he won four Spanish Professionals Championships, was sixth in the US Masters in 1965 and second, as part of the Spanish team, in the 1963 and 1965 World Cups).

eve, the youngest of four brothers (Baldomero, Manuel and Vicente), who would also in time become golf pros, began hitting his first golf shots on the beach using an iron adapted for his height – or secretly at night on the Pedreña golf course when the moon lit up the fairways. At times, for playing without permission, he was hit with various sanctions that made him re-evaluate his future.

He debuted as a caddy at nine, and one year later competed in his first caddies’ event, carding 51 for the first nine of the competition. The following year he was second, with a 42. At just 12, playing 18 holes, he won the tournament with a round of 79

is progress was unstoppable, and at 13 he was already carding rounds of 65. Everything he saw he learned and absorbed. In 1971, coinciding with the inauguration of La Manga Club, he was able to see great players close at hand, with Gary Player making the most impact on him. Seve was clear about his destiny: golf was his life. On 22 March 1974, three weeks short of turning 17, he joined the professional ranks.

The first “serious” tournament he played in was the Spanish Professionals Championships at San Cugat. He finished 20th but was extremely disappointed: even though he was still only 16 his goal had been to win. His first win came at Pedreña, in the Spanish Under- 25s Championship; and the following week he was second in the Santander Open. Seven days later he won the Vizcaya Open. All these events were part of the Spanish Northern Circuit, while at an international level his best finish was fifth in the Italian Open.

From the start his aggressive and exceptional game gave people much to talk about, and he quickly gained a reputation on the European scene. His first major season was 1976, when he topped the European Tour order of merit – having won the World Cup (for Spain, with Manuel Piñero), Dutch Open and Lancôme Trophy, in the latter, coming back from four shots behind Arnold Palmer with just nine shots to play. However, the definitive detonator for his explosion onto the international stage was the British Open held that same year at Royal Birkdale, where he tied for second with Jack Nicklaus behind Johnny Miller

eve led the tournament on the first three days and everyone watching was amazed by the chip he hit with great precision between two bunkers before running it to just over a metre from the flag and securing a birdie on the last hole. His daring strokeplay in the face of so many awkward situations caused a stir among the galleries, and admiration and fear among his rivals.

International Startdom

In 1977 he again headed the European Tour order of merit and the following year, with victories in the US, Kenya and Japan, he became a true international star. He won six events in a row – on four continents outside Europe – which was an exceptional achievement, especially as, at the age of 20, he had now won tournaments on five continents. One of the highlights of any elite golfer’s career is his first major, and Seve’s breakthrough came in the 1979 British Open, becoming the 20th century’s youngest champion. As he noted during an interview with this magazine coinciding with his 30th year as a professional, that triumph “was a very special moment, because obviously to win the British Open, certainly for Europeans, is the ultimate goal, and also having my brothers there on the final hole… When we hugged it was a very emotional moment and I still become emotional when I see it again; it was very special. Later there were many other positive things: all the majors I’ve won, the two World Cups, the Ryder Cups…

“However, being able to convince the Ryder Cup committee to let Spain host the Ryder Cup in 1997, and then to come here and captain the team and win the cup, that was one of the most special and satisfying moments for me. Something else I’m very proud about is to have helped make a minority sport, a poorly rated sport and one rejected by the general society, the third most popular sport, by number of participants, in our country; and to have changed most Spaniards’ perceptions about golf – they now see it in a more positive light, as a great sport and something that is good for our country.”

Following his victory in 1979, his next appearance in a Grand Slam event was the 1980 US Masters at August, where he once again stunned everyone. With just nine holes to play he had a 10-stroke margin over the second-placed player. He carded 23 birdies and an eagle, and at just 23 he had become only the second non-American and the first European to be fitted into the champion’s green jacket. The bells in his hometown church rang in celebration but the rest of the country, where golf was still a minority sport with little popular appeal, showed scant interest. At the time, he was recognised as one of the longest hitters in the international game and at August he was able to confirm that he was the best all-round player of the moment.

When he began playing on the Tour, Seve spoke no English and he had to get by with the help of his brother Manolo, who accompanied him to tournaments. His “sign language” gradually gave way to verbal communication. In those early days on the international stage, Seve played the Tour with his brother Manolo, José María Cañizares, Manuel Piñero and Antonio Garrido.

When he joined the Tour at 17, the Qualifying School didn’t exist as it does now, and players made it onto the Tour by other means. “We mainly entered via invitations granted to the various European golf federations,” he recalled in the interview with Andalucía Golf. “There was a continental order of merit, sponsored by American Express, which I won in 1975, and that was why I was exempt to play the 1976 British Open. I don’t recall if it was the first or first five of the con- tinental order, but that’s the way things worked; there was no School, nothing. It was a much more difficult era, much more complicated, especially as far as travel was concerned.”

In those days there were a lot fewer players than now. “The first years we were 125 or 130, and there were even two cuts in tournaments, one on the Friday and the other on the Saturday, which made it both easier and harder. Harder for those on the borderline, and easier for those playing better, because it gave you a greater margin to recover if you started off badly.”

Costly Delay

His run of two Grand Slam wins ended in the US Open, when he was disqualified for arriving late at the tee. It was his first great disappointment but his worst moment – his most frustrating in a sporting sense, as he told this magazine – came in the 1986 Masters, when he hit his ball into the water on the 15th on the final day, costing him the title.

Seve probably inherited his combative spirit from his father, and it has been apparent in all his actions, even away from the fairways. He fought to dignify the European Tour, which resulted in some serious repercussions – including his non-selection for the 1981 Ryder Cup. In spite of that, his contribution became vital in boosting the tournament’s status and turning it into one of the most popular televised sporting events in the world.

In the six events played after that year’s Ryder Cup, Seve showed he was head and shoulders above the other European Tour players, winning four important titles (Spanish Open, World Match Play, Dunlop Phoenix in Japan and Australian PGA), losing to Johnny Miller in a play-off for the Sun City tournament and finishing third in the Johnnie Walker Trophy

Any discussion about international golf meant a discussion about Seve and, in refusing to play full-time on the US PGA Tour, he opened a debate with those running the strongest tour in the world, with the result that they changed the rules.

In 1983, Seve won his second green jacket at Augusta. His flying start on the final day (birdie, eagle, par, birdie) effectively sen- tenced the rest of the field to a secondary role. Eventual runner-up Tom Kite said of the Cantabrian star, “When he’s in form it’s like Seve is driving a Ferrari and the rest of us are using Chevrolets.”

He showed just how perfect the symbiosis was between his game and the Masters tournament. Proof of this is demonstrated in the fact that several of the courses he has designed feature details that bear similarities with Augusta National, and are now imbedded into Seve’s own philosophy.

At the end of the ‘80s, a book written by four luminaries – Arnold Palmer, Mark Mc- Cormack, Peter Dobereiner and Peter Alliss – included the quote, “Even before winning the Open at Royal Lytham in 1979, there was a significant golfing view that Severiano Ballesteros was number one. Up to 1983 all discussion about the matter ended: the daring Spaniard was at the highest point of the pole, by whatever criteria you used.”

Golf experts have said that Seve combined the elegance of Hogan, the ability and strength of Snead, the power and aggression of Palmer, the tenacity of Player, the technique of Nicklaus and the coolness of Watson.

In 1984, the British Open was held at St. Andrews; that is, the world’s premier event at the most legendary course, at the home of golf. Seve won, highlighting his concentration, domination and intense capacity for victory. It was, without a doubt, one of the key moments in the history of world golf. His last putt was the definitive birdie, leaving a lasting impression around the world and truly marking an era. So much so that the image became Seve’s logo and that of his companies.

No victory in a major tournament is easy. The final round of the 1988 British Open, at the same course where he had won in 1979, Royal Lytham & St Annes, was Seve at his most magnificent. With a closing 65, he easily beat his rivals – all great champions. It was, without a doubt, one of the finest last rounds in a British Open. With that round, he consolidated his domination throughout the decade.

Interestingly, in the days leading up to the championship, Golf World magazine published a detailed report about how Seve had played the final six holes at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1979, comparing the “conventional route” with “the Seve way”. These are shots that have passed into history. They define a player with his own style, like – for example – the way he approached the 16th by the shortest route, hitting a driver rather than a conservative iron, then having to hit his second shot from the car park, well ahead of where other players had hit, and reaching the green in a solid position and sinking a key putt for a decisive birdie.

For Seve, the British Open and the Masters were truly something special; and the same was the case with the World Match Play Championships, which he won on five occasions.

If he marked his own style in individual tournaments, however, it was his presence in the Ryder Cup in 1979 – and especially from 1983 – that changed the face of the tournament. It was the first year (1983) that Europe stood up to the Americans, and people still remember the amazing shot that Seve conjured up with a 3-wood from a bunker located 200 metres from the green in his match against Fuzzy Zoeller at the PGA National in Palm Beach.

Unquestionably, the win in 1985 was very emotional, but perhaps the most significant was retaining the Cup in 1987 on US soil. This confirmed a major shift in world golf. The Europeans showed that golf was much more than just the US Tour, and proof of that came the following years when, in the next seven Masters, six of the titles were won by Europeans – something almost unthinkable before then.

Europe’s victories against the Americans ensured that subsequent editions of the Ryder Cup reached unprecedented dimensions, and that was why Seve was particularly determined for the Cup to come to Spain. He finally realised his dream in 1997 when the event was held on the Costa del Sol. Ballesteros himself was captain of the European team, which deservedly beat the Americans at Valderrama. Many people recall this Ryder Cup as Seve’s Ryder Cup, the triumph of a real team against great American individuals.

Relying on that sense of team spirit, he created the Seve Trophy, which pitted continental Europe against Great Britain and Ireland – something similar to the battles waged in the 1970s. In fact, in a match played at The Belfry against Nick Faldo, Seve hit one of the most stunning shots remembered at The Brabazon, reaching the green in one on the 10th, a par-4 flanked by a creek. The most spectacular hole on the course now has its own name: The Ballesteros Hole.

In 1999, during the ceremony marking Seve’s entry into the Hall of Fame, Lee Trevino observed, “In each generation one golfer stands out a little from the others. I believe Ballesteros is one of those; in golf he has everything, and by everything I mean touch, strength, knowledge, courage and charisma.” The best summary came from Ben Crenshaw, who said, “Seve hits shots that I can’t even visualise in my dreams.”

TRIBUTES FROM HIS COLLEAGUES

Top golfers from around the world paid warm tribute to Seve…

Jack Nicklaus: \"Today, golf lost a great champion and a great friend. We also lost a great entertainer and ambassador for our sport. I have always had wonderful respect for Seve’s ability, how he played the game, and the flair he brought to the sport while achieving the success he did. It was his creativity, his imagination and his desire to compete that made him so popular, not only in Europe but throughout American galleries too. He was a great entertainer. No matter the golf that particular day, you always knew you were going to be entertained. Seve’s enthusiasm was just unmatched by anybody I think that ever played the game.\"

Tiger Woods: \"I was deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Seve Ballesteros. I always enjoyed spending time with him at the champions dinner each year at the US Masters. Seve was one of the most talented and exciting golfers to ever play the game. His creativity and inventiveness on the golf course may never be surpassed. His death came much too soon.\"

José María Olazabal: “My first memory of Seve goes back to ‘83 or ’84. I was an amateur, and he called me to play in a charity event. It was a big surprise and I was very excited. It\'s hard to chose one of the many moments that I lived with him, but surely the most cherished are Ryder Cup moments, particular the 1997 edition. What impressed most in Seve was his strength, his fighting spirit and the passion he put into everything he did. I saw him for the last time the Saturday after the Masters. He was not well, but his head was clear. We talked about many things… so many common memories, and particularly about the Ryder Cup. The best tribute we can pay to Seve is to go on playing for him, although no tribute will ever do justice to everything he did for golf and to everything he gave us.\"

Nick Faldo: “A sad day. Seve was golf’s Cirque du Soleil… the greatest show on earth. I was a fan and so fortunate I had a front row seat.\"

Phil Mickelson: \"He\'s certainly had an impact on the game, but to me the great- est thing about Seve is his flair and his charisma. Because of the way he played the game of golf, you were drawn to him. You wanted to go watch him play. He had charisma and he kind of had so many shots that it was fun to watch him play.\"

Miguel Ángel Jiménez: \"The thing that really stands out about him is his determination... and his passion for everything that he did. He never gave up and always looked for (the shot) or way out, and that reflected his personality.\"

Lee Westwood: \"You always knew when Seve walked in a room even if you had your back to him. He oozed charisma and brought a whole new meaning to aura.\"

Sergio García: \"He was a game-changer, not only for Europe, but for golf itself when he came out. Obviously, there was Jack and Arnie and all those guys, but he played differently. To be able to come from Spain and do what he did, it was something amazing.\"

Colin Montgomerie: “I am devastated to hear the news. He fought so bravely throughout this awful illness and, time and time again, showed such bravery and miraculous recovery skills as he did throughout his career. There are very few legends in the world; Seve is one of them. I never saw such a talent to swing a golf club, and we may never see it again. We have lost one of the great icons of the game; it is a great loss for Spain, for Europe and for the world. He has left us with so many wonderful lasting memories and his contributions to European golf are unquantifiable.”

Rory McIlroy: “Seve is and always will be what is great about the game of golf. A true legend in every way. An inspiration for so many people.”

Ian Poulter: “The last time we (European team) spoke to Seve was on the eve of the 2010 Ryder Cup. I will remember his words for the rest of my life. I feel truly honoured to have known Seve… to have played golf with him and to have learned from a true genius.”

Manuel Piñero: You can’t think of golf without Seve, or certainly Seve without golf – his life and passion. For me there have been three legends in golf: Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Severiano Ballesteros. Each of them in their era and with their own style, but all three indispensable in understanding the evolution and development of golf.”