The flamboyant fighter
Seves Ballesteros, who put golf on the world map by challenging US dominance retires at 47
| The five-time Major winner, whose shot-making was legendary, had a following of the likes of which few have had the privilege in Europe. As Ernie Els, on hearing about Seve's health problems, said, "Seve is the Arnold Palmer of the European Tour. All the charisma and all the excitement that you wanted to see, that was Seve." |
| The 47-year-old is credited with having put Europe on the world's golf map with the way he played in Europe and across the Atlantic. He won the British Open thrice in 1979, 1984 and 1988 and the Augusta Masters twice in 1980 and 1983. He won 56 times on the European Tour and 88 times, worldwide. |
| Tiger Woods may dominate the game like none before, but Seve was the man who gave every golfer a reason to dream. One of the longest hitters of his time, Seve's flamboyance and charisma was something that only Palmer could have come close to matching. |
| When he first made his mark on the golfing scene in 1970s, he brought with him the kind of looks and sex-appeal that golf had seldom seen before. |
| Few golfers were as well turned out as he was, and in many ways, he set the trend for future fashion on the greens. His dark, Spanish good looks were arresting, to say the least. And fans swooned each time he smiled. There is even a men's fragrance named after him. He gave golf the image of being a young man's game. |
| Hailing from a family of four brothers, all pro golfers, Seve picked up his first club at the age of three. At nine, he took part in his first caddies' event. |
| In 1971, when he was barely 14, the La Manga course was opened, and for the first time he saw world stars and, among them, Gary Player impressed him the most. Three years later, still short of being 17, he turned pro, and came 20th in the Spanish Pro Championships. He was disappointed because he expected to win! |
| By 1976, he was a star on the rise. He won the European Order of Merit, the Dutch Open and the Lancome Trophy, and once caught up four strokes Arnold Palmer had over him with just nine to play. That year, he was tied second with Jack Nicklaus behind Johnny Miller. |
| Within the next three years, he was a global star, winning all over the world. In 1979, he won his first Major, becoming the youngest British Open winner of the century. |
| When he first hit the spotlight at the 1976 British Open in Royal Birkdale, his amazing swing, which almost seemed to turn 360 degrees, often knocked him off the feet long after the ball was sent soaring into the sky. |
| Seve suddenly brought the focus back onto Europe for the first time in years. He gave European golf the confidence to challenge the dominance of the United States. It was Seve who wrote the early history of European golf. He was the first player to reach the £1 million, £2 million and £3 million in earnings on the European PGA. |
| He enthralled his fans with amazing shots in 1979, when he won the first of his three British Open titles at Royal Lytham. He even hit a rescue shot from a car park once. And his short game was magic; the chip sensational and putting unparalleled. |
| So spectacular was Seve, that no less a player than Ben Crenshaw, remarked, "Seve plays shots I don't even see in my dreams." |
| The tenth at Belfry is called the "Ballesteros Hole", where when playing against Nick Faldo in the Seve Trophy, he hit one of the most spectacular shots ever seen at the venue. He reached the green from the back of the tee, a par 4 flanked by a stream. |
| In 1980, Seve wore the Green Jacket at the Augusta for the first time and added one more in 1984. By the time he was 31, he had won five Majors and peaking as a golfer. Alas, his 1988 British Open win was the last Major victory for him. |
| Just as he had arrived almost unannounced, Seve slid fast from the stage. In the early 1990s, he once won the Dubai Desert Classic and helped revive golf in the Gulf after the War, but otherwise he was already on the downward trail. |
| He changed coaches. He changed caddies. He still hit long, but the magic in his shots was slowly fading. He became tentative on the greens where he was once confidence personified. He drove more into the roughs and trees and jungles and cart paths, and he three-putted more than ever before. |
| For the man, whose performances gave Europe the confidence of challenging the US' dominance, his last big high came in 1997. |
| He was named the non-playing Ryder Cup captain in 1997 at the Spanish course of Valderrama, when for the first time it had been staged outside the US, the UK and Ireland. Seve led Europe to win and to date considers that as one his sweetest successes. |
| By 2000, Seve was relying on invitations for starts. By 2003, Seve, suffering from serious back problems hardly made a cut, something that showed up when he ended the year in the 279th place with just under $7,300 in wins. |
| But he was never a quitter and he did not know when to admit it. He began talking of coming back on the US Senior Tours for over-50s. But now inflicted with serious arthritis, Seve's golf will just be a memory for those who loved seeing him conjure up magic in and around the greens. |