Seve Ballesteros – the most creative professional golfer of our time — finally lost his battle with brain cancer yesterday at the age of 54. Geoff Shackelford does his usual comprehensive job of cataloging the tributes (see also here) to the iconic Spaniard. Also, don’t miss this Jaime Diaz/Golf Digest interview of Ballesteros from last year as he reflected on his career and life.
With six Europeans (including the top three) in the current top 10 players in the World Golf Rankings, it’s fully evident that impact that Ballesteros had on the development of European golf. It is not a stretch to say that his influence on the European Tour was every bit as dramatic as that of Arnold Palmer on the PGA Tour.
Ballesteros’ style was quite similar to that of Phil Mickelson – a risk-taker who combined a sometimes out-of-control swing with a phenomenal short game to win five major championships (two Masters and three Open Championships). However, Ballesteros was somewhat different in that he burst on the scene as a teenager — he won the Dutch Open at the age of 19 and the led the European Order of Merit at the ages of 19-21. He was 22 when he won his first Open Championship in 1979 and he was just turning 23 when he was the first European to win The Masters. At the time, he was the youngest golfer to win the Masters.
Those championships propelled him to an extraordinary career, but his most compelling influence may have been in regard to the Ryder Cup. When that traditional match changed format in 1979 to become a competition between the U.S. and Europe rather than U.S. vs Great Britain and Ireland match that the Americans had lost just three times in over 50 years, Ballesteros grabbed the competition by the throat and wouldn’t let go. He played eight times in the Ryder Cup, losing only 12 times in 35 matches and won the 1997 match as the Euro captain. When the Euro team dropped him for the 1981 match because he had played mostly that season on the PGA Tour, the U.S. pummeled the Euros by nine points. The Euros didn’t make that mistake again.
In addition to being the most dashing and charismatic player of his time, Ballesteros was also quite witty. Few golfers will ever forget his classic response to a question of what happened when he four-putted one of Augusta National’s lightning-fast greens during the Masters: “I miss, I miss, I miss, I make.” Or his hilarious response to a question on how was it that he took an eight on one of Augusta National’s par 4’s: “I meesed a three-footer for a seven.”
But Ballesteros was different from Mickelson in that he lost his game in his early 30’s (although not his competitive fire – remember his captaincy of the 1997 Ryder Cup?). He was 34 when he last contended at a major championship and he made his last cut at the Open Championship at the age of 37. He made his last cut at the Masters when he was 38.
For those interested in the mechanics of the golf swing, Ballesteros’ decline is fascinating. As noted swing instructor Wayne DeFranceso reverently explains in this video analysis, Ballesteros won five major championships and 87 golf tournaments around the world with a swing that contained a fundamental defect. Through his extraordinary athletic ability and amazing short game, Ballesteros was able to compensate for the swing defect.
However, as he aged, Ballesteros’ swing fault became more pronounced as he dealt with chronic back pain and his short game ebbed a bit. The combination was too much for even Ballesteros to overcome, although he searched diligently for years in an attempt to revive his career. Unfortunately, he never made it to the man in Houston who specializes in golf swing reclamation projects and who just might have helped Ballesteros compete again at the top levels of the game.
The video below is a wonderful review of Ballesteros’ career and shows what made him such a compelling character.
Rest in peace, Seve. You will be missed.