“I KNOW THAT THIS IS DIFFICULT, LONG AND THAT WE HAVE TO KEEP WORKING.”
When you see him coming, his walk, his gestures, his way of being in the field remind you of his father. Already in the short distance, that impression increases because his tone of voice is very similar, even his turns and expressions.
Javier Ballesteros, the first-born son of the incomparable Seve, has made his debut as a professional golfer. He has done it on the Costa del Sol, at La Cala Resort, and his first attempt to access the Alps Tour, the third most important circuit in the Old Continent after the European and the Challenge, has been unsuccessful. He did not pass the first phase of the Qualifying School.
-How was the experience of your debut as a professional?
-As an amateur I had already played important tournaments. This debut has not gone very well. The truth is that I’m making some changes in my swing, I’ve been training pretty well, but things haven’t worked out.
I was a little bit lacking in confidence, and well… I didn’t play badly, but not well either. I’m not happy, because you can’t be satisfied when you play rounds over par and things don’t go the way you want them to. Little by little, I know that this is difficult, long and that you have to keep working.
-What would you highlight from your game?
-I tend to have a very good short game, to be honest. From 95 or 100 meters down, around the green and in the bunker, I’m a very fine player.
-And the worst part?
-Ehh… I still need to improve with the driver. This week I haven’t shot badly at all. I was more or less happy and then the mistake appeared on the 17th hole, where I hit the ball out to the right. I had not hit any or almost none bad and it appeared again at the worst moment.
I need to go a little straighter, and that’s what I’m improving.
-Have you set goals for yourself in golf?
-Like everyone, I want to end up playing on the European Tour someday. I know it’s difficult, that I have a lot of things to improve, that I have a lot of work to do, but, man, if you start by setting a low goal, we’re not doing well.
I know there are a lot of people pretending the same, that they are very good, that they train a lot, but in the end it’s all about training more than the rest.
-You are studying law, do you intend to finish your degree?
-It’s wrong for me to say it, but I’m a pretty good student. The thing is that for the last couple of years I have abandoned my career a little bit and I have focused more on golf. I know I have to finish it, I don’t know if I will finish it by distance or how, but I know I have to do it, regardless of whether I do well or badly in golf.
-I suppose you will be asked a lot about this: does your last name condition you a lot when it comes to playing, does it weigh on you, do you think about it or not?
-It doesn’t weigh on me, if it can open some door for me, giving me an invitation or something like that. But I have no pressure. What my father did was incredible, and I would almost say unrepeatable… Man, someone will do it someday, but his career is something very difficult to match, and I’m a long way away.
In addition, he had a very different game from the rest.
My last name puts absolutely no pressure on me, I know who he was, who I am, and I just try to enjoy and make a living with what I like.
-What advice did he give you for golf and for life?
-For golf, many. I keep his insistence that you have to work hard, that talent alone is not enough. That you always have to make a lot of effort, more than the next person, and that within a refined technique you have to try to play very naturally.
For life, the most important thing he instilled in me is to always be an honest person.
-What did you admire most about your father? Forgive me for asking you about him, but…
-No, no (he interrupts me), it doesn’t bother me at all. On the contrary, I like talking about him. What did you admire most about him? Well, maybe the fact that he came from nothing to be the best player in the world. It is something impressive. I wasn’t lucky enough to see him because I wasn’t even born in his prime, and in the 90s my father wasn’t in his best shape, even though he was still playing well.
I was not lucky enough to have seen him win a tournament, although in video I have: I have seen them all and many times.
I also admired him a lot during his illness for his fortitude, strength and the way he fought against the disease. He was always a fighter, and I try to follow his example of work and capacity for sacrifice….
-You were telling me before that you like soccer very much, that you are a big BarÇa fan….
-Yes, although less and less… I’m taking it off (ironically). I’ve been very much a Barça fan and a soccer fan, but, as I’ve told a friend, I’ve seen my team win six titles in one year… the Spanish national team two European Championships and a World Cup…. I have seen it all. I still like soccer, but I’m not such a fanatic anymore.
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