Seve – an inspiration
Major Champion, Ryder Cup hero, short-game maestro, escapologist, captain, golfing ambassador, course designer and inimitable personality, Severiano Ballesteros’ career and life was exemplified by excellence and determination.
His influence on golf remains strong to this day and I was reminded of just how important he was in fostering my own interest in this great game as I went through the superb content, marking the ten-year anniversary of his sad death, contained in this issue.
Few golfers in history have provided so many with such motivation to play and improve. For me, and many of my golfing contemporaries, Seve was both an idol and an inspiration.
Watching his swashbuckling and hugely determined approach to the sport was thrilling and captivating and he played a pivotal role in thrusting European golf into the limelight in the late 1970s and through the 1980s. His breakthrough victory at Augusta opened the floodgates for European winners and his three Open triumphs were achieved with such stirring and memorable passion.
Think of his iconic fist-pumping celebrations at St Andrews in 1984, captured by photographer David Cannon and described in David’s words in an article on page 54. David has produced a brilliant book to mark the anniversary, Seve: His Life Through The Lens, which we review on page 73.
And then, of course, there was Seve’s contribution to the Ryder Cup, in which as player, captain and even posthumously, he was Europe’s talisman. My interest in watching and following professional golf intensified significantly because of Seve, and in that I know I’m not alone.
Also in our section dedicated to Ballesteros, Bill Elliott, Dan Davies and Seve’s son, Javier, share their memories and thoughts on the great man. These superb and heartfelt articles deliver amazing insight and paint pictures of Seve as a father, friend, icon and inspiration.
Shots from the trees, shots from his knees, up-and-downs from impossible positions, raking drives… Seve’s game was unpredictable and hugely exciting. Seve made you want to go out and try to play a flop shot, to try to play with a little more style. He simply made you want to go out and play. We miss him.