Seve Up
European golfer par excellence Seve Ballesteros, who chose sports less manly than his native country’s bullfighting, has died of brain cancer at the age of 54. Learning to play golf with only a 3-iron helped Ballesteros divine brilliant recoveries from horrifically bad shots into dunes, creeks, bushes and, in the 1979 British Open, a car park, yielding a birdie en route to his first major victory. Ballesteros also implemented his own affirmative action campaign to force the rest of continental Europe into the Ryder Cup, which had to that point been a US-UK/Ireland contest. Unlike Casey Martin, who challenged golf and then did nothing with his victory, Ballesteros became one of the best Ryder Cup champions, captaining the winning 1985 team and winning 4 others, the last being his stint as non-playing captain in the 1997 Cup in his native Spain, the first Ryder Cup in continental Europe. Ballesteros was the first European and at the time the youngest to win the Masters in 1980, the first of 2 wins, and won the British Open 3 times. Ballesteros also brought a charisma and flair to the game, helping to make golf the non-stop thrill ride loved the world over.
Labels: golf
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