<\/p>\n
When you see him coming towards you, his way of walking, his gestures, the way he carries himself on the course\u2026 they all remind you of his father. Close up, this impression is accentuated, because the tone of his voice is also very similar \u2013 even his turns of phrase and expressions. <\/p>\n
Javier Ballesteros, son of the incomparable Seve, has now made his professional debut. It occurred on the Costa del Sol, at La Cala Resort, but his first attempt to gain access to the Alps Tour \u2013 the third most important circuit on the continent after the European Tour and Challenge Tour \u2013 was unsuccessful. He failed to make it past the first phase of the qualifying school. <\/p>\n
\u2013 How was the experience of your professional debut?<\/p>\n
\u2013 As an amateur I had played some major tournaments. This debut didn\u2019t go very well. The truth is I\u2019m making some changes to my swing \u2013 I arrived practising quite well \u2013 but it seems as though things aren\u2019t yet working out. <\/p>\n
I lacked some confidence but anyway\u2026 I didn\u2019t play badly, but not well either. I\u2019m not happy because you can\u2019t be satisfied when you card rounds over par and things don\u2019t turn out as you want them to. Little by little\u2026 I know this is difficult and lengthy, and I have to continue working. <\/p>\n
\u2013 What would you highlight about your game?<\/p>\n
\u2013 I tend to have a very good short game, truth be told. From 95 to 100 meters and below; around the green and in the bunker I have a good touch. <\/p>\n
\u2013 And the worst?<\/p>\n
\u2013 Ahh\u2026 I need to improve with the driver. This week I didn\u2019t drive all that bad. I was more or less happy and then suddenly I made that mistake on the 17th, where I hit the ball out of bounds on the right. I hadn\u2019t hit any, or hardly any, shot poorly and it returned at the worst moment. I need to hit a little more to the right, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m improving. <\/p>\n
\u2013 Have you set any golf objectives?<\/p>\n
\u2013 Like everyone, I want to end up playing on the European Tour one day. I know it\u2019s tough \u2013 that there are a lot of things I need to improve, that I have a lot of work ahead of me \u2013 but, hey, if you start with a minor objective that\u2019s not a good path. <\/p>\n
I know there are many people aiming for the same thing, who are very good players, who practise a lot, but in the end it\u2019s all about practising more than the others.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2013 You are studying law. Are you planning to finish your studies? <\/p>\n
\u2013 It\u2019s bad that I say this, but I\u2019m a pretty good student. The problem is that for a couple of years now I\u2019ve slightly abandoned my studies and focused more on golf. I know I have to finish them \u2013 I\u2019m not sure if by correspondence or how \u2013 but I know I have to do it, independently of whether or not golf turns out to be good or bad. <\/p>\n
\u2013 We imagine you are often asked this: does your surname have much of an influence on your game, does it weigh on you, do you think about it, or not?<\/p>\n
\u2013 It doesn\u2019t weigh on me; in fact, it can open doors for me, secure an invitation or something like that. But I don\u2019t have any pressure. What my father did was incredible, and I would almost say once-in-a-lifetime\u2026 Hey, someone will do it one day, but his career is very difficult to equal, and I\u2019m a long way off. Furthermore, he had a game that was very different from the rest. <\/p>\n
My surname doesn\u2019t put pressure on me at all; I know who he was, who I am, and I\u2019m just trying to enjoy it and earn a living doing something I like.<\/p>\n
\u2013 What advice did he give you for golf and for life?<\/p>\n
\u2013 For golf, a lot. I\u2019m left with his insistence that you have to work hard, that talent alone isn\u2019t enough. That you always have to make an effort, more than the one at your side, and that within the bounds of a fine-tuned technique you have to try to play as naturally as possible. <\/p>\n
For life the most important thing he instilled in me is that you should always be an honorable person.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2013 What is it that you admired most about your father? Apologies for asking about him, but\u2026 <\/p>\n
\u2013 No, no (he interrupts), it doesn\u2019t bother me at all. On the contrary, I like talking about him. What is it that I admired most about him? Well, perhaps the fact he came from nothing to become the best golfer in the world. That\u2019s impressive. I didn\u2019t have the good fortune to see it because during his best era I had not been born yet, and in the nineties my father wasn\u2019t at his best form, even though he still played well. I wasn\u2019t lucky enough to see him win a tournament, although on videos yes: I\u2019ve seen them all, any many times. <\/p>\n
I also greatly admired him during his illness, his fortitude, strength and the way he fought against the illness. He was always a fighter, and I try to follow his work example and capacity for sacrifice. <\/p>\n
\u2013 You said before that you like football a lot, that you\u2019re a fan of Barcelona\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2013 Yes, although less and less\u2026 they\u2019re taking it away from me (he says with irony). I\u2019ve been a real Bar\u00e7a fan and very keen on football but, as I\u2019ve said to friends, I\u2019ve seen my team win six titles in a year\u2026 the Spanish team two European championships and the World Cup\u2026 I\u2019ve seen everything. I still like football but I\u2019m not so fanatical about it anymore. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2013 You are studying law. Are you planning to finish your studies? \u2013 It\u2019s bad that I say this, but I\u2019m a pretty good student. The problem is that for a couple of years now I\u2019ve slightly abandoned my studies and focused more on golf. I know I have to finish them \u2013 I\u2019m not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}