Severiano Ballesteros

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Severiano Ballesteros
Personal Information
Birth April 9, 1957 (1957-04-09) (age 51)
Pedreña, Spain
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality Flag of Spain Spain
Spouse Carmen (1988-2004)
Children Javier (1990), Miguel (1992),
Carmen (1994)
Residence Santander, Spain
College None
Career
Turned Pro 1974
Retired 2007
Former Tours European Tour, Champions Tour, European Seniors Tour
Professional wins 94 (European Tour: 49, PGA Tour: 9, Other: 36)
Best Results in Major Championships
Wins: 5
Masters Won 1980, 1983
U.S. Open 3rd: 1987
The Open Championship Won 1979, 1984, 1988
PGA Championship 5th: 1984
Awards
European Tour Order
of Merit Winner
1976, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1991
World Golf Hall of Fame 1999

Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros (born 9 April 1957) is a Spanish professional golfer and former World No. 1, who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid 1970s to the mid 1990s. He announced himself to the golfing world in 1976, when at age 19 he finished second at The Open Championship. A part of a gifted golfing family, Ballesteros won five major tournaments between the years of 1979 and 1988, including The Masters twice. He was also successful in the Ryder Cup, helping the European team to five wins both as a player and captain.

Due to back-related injuries, Ballesteros struggled with form during the 1990s. In spite of this, he continued to be involved in the game of golf, creating The Seve Trophy and running a golf course design business. Ballesteros eventually retired from competitive golf in 2007 due to continued poor form.

Contents

[edit] Career outline

[edit] Early life and career

Ballesteros was born in Pedreña, Cantabria, Spain. He learned the game while playing on the beaches near his home, mainly using a 3-iron given to him by one of his older brothers. His uncle Ramón Sota was Spanish professional champion four times and finished 6th in The Masters in 1965.[1] Severiano's older brother Manuel finished in the top 100 on the European Tour order of merit every year from 1972 to 1983, and later became Severiano's manager. Brothers Vicente and Baldomero, and nephew Raúl are also professional golfers.[2][3][4]

Ballesteros turned professional in March 1974 at the age of 16. In 1976, he burst onto the international scene with a second-place finish in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. Ballesteros led by two shots after the third round, but a final round 74 saw him tie with Jack Nicklaus, six shots behind the winner Johnny Miller.[5][6] He went on to win the European Tour Order of Merit (money title) that year, a title that he would win six times, including the next two years, which was a record at that time (since surpassed by Colin Montgomerie).[7] In 1988, he led the Official World Golf Rankings at the end of the year; these rankings were not inaugurated until April 1986, but Ballesteros also led McCormack's World Golf Rankings, published in McCormack's "World Of Professional Golf" annuals (from which the official rankings were developed) from 1983 to 1985.[8] He led the Official World Golf Rankins for a total of 61 weeks from 1986 to 1989.

Ballesteros went on to win five major championships: The Masters in 1980 and 1983, and The Open Championship in 1979, 1984 and 1988.[7] His 1980 Masters win was the first by a European player, and at the time he was the youngest winner of the tournament, at 23 (though this record was broken by Tiger Woods in 1997).[9] His 1979 win at The Open Championship similarly made him the youngest winner of the tournament in the 20th century, and the first golfer from continental Europe to win a major since Frenchman Arnaud Massy won The Open in 1907.[10]

He was also a great at match play; he won the World Match Play Championship five times, and was a mainstay of the European Ryder Cup team for much of the 1980s and 1990s. He scored 20 points out of 37 matches against the United States; his partnership with fellow Spaniard José María Olazábal was the most successful in the history of the competition, with 11 wins and two halved matches out of 15 pairs matches.[11] While Ballesteros was a member of European sides that won the Ryder Cup in 1985, retained the Cup in 1987 and 1989, and regained the Cup in 1995, the pinnacle of his career in the competition came in 1997, when he captained the winning European side at Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain. This was the first Ryder Cup ever held in continental Europe.[12][13]

[edit] Late career and retirement

In 1999, Ballesteros was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, joining greats such as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.[14] He was instrumental in introducing The Seve Trophy in 2000, a team competition similar to the Ryder Cup pitting a team from Great Britain and Ireland against one from continental Europe.[15][16] In 2000, Ballesteros was ranked as the 16th greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine; he was the top golfer from the continent of Europe.[17]

Ballesteros had played sparingly since the late 1990s due to back problems, and made his first start in years at the 2005 Madrid Open. He stated a desire to play more tournaments in the 2006 season. He entered the 2006 Open Championship, having played just one other event on the European Tour, The Open de France Alstom, where he missed the cut. He runs a thriving golf course design business, is divorced with three children and has been eligible for the Champions Tour and European Seniors Tour upon turning 50 in 2007.[18] Ballesteros has been the captain of the European team in the Royal Trophy since its inception in 2006.[19] He was announced again as non-playing captain of the 2008 European team to defend the Royal Trophy against the Asian team at the Amata Spring Country Club in Bangkok.[20][21]

After further recurrence of his back problems, which contributed to his finishing tied for last in his only Champions Tour start, Ballesteros announced his retirement from golf on 16 July 2007, bringing down the curtain on an illustrious career. During the news conference, he also addressed reports in European media that he had attempted suicide, saying that those reports "were not even close to reality". He had been briefly hospitalized when he became concerned about the condition of his heart, but was released the same day after being given a clean bill of health.[22]

[edit] European Tour wins (49)

Major championships are shown in bold.

Ballesteros's win in the 1976 Lancome Trophy is omitted from his win list on his profile on the European Tour's official site, so only 48 wins are listed. This appears to be an error (1976 was the first year that the Trophy was an official money event, and it is included in the 1976 schedule on the official site, whereas the 1975 event was not). Some sources state that Ballesteros has 50 European Tour wins, but the basis for that figure is unclear.

[edit] PGA Tour wins (9)

Major championships are shown in bold. (The Open Championship wins also count as PGA Tour wins. The two majors played in the United States did not count as European Tour events before 1987.)

[edit] Japan Golf Tour wins (6)

[edit] Other wins (30)

[edit] Major Championships

[edit] Wins (5)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner(s) Up
1979 The Open Championship 2 shot deficit -1 (73-65-75-70=283) 3 strokes Flag of the United States Jack Nicklaus, Flag of the United States Ben Crenshaw
1980 The Masters 7 shot lead -13 (66-69-68-72=275) 4 strokes Flag of the United States Gibby Gilbert, Flag of Australia Jack Newton
1983 The Masters (2) 1 shot deficit -8 (68-70-73-69=280) 4 strokes Flag of the United States Ben Crenshaw, Flag of the United States Tom Kite
1984 The Open Championship (2) 2 shot deficit -12 (69-68-70-69=276) 2 strokes Flag of the United States Tom Watson, Flag of Germany Bernhard Langer
1988 The Open Championship (3) 2 shot deficit -12 (67-71-70-65=273) 2 strokes Flag of Zimbabwe Nick Price

[edit] Results timeline

Tournament 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
The Masters DNP DNP T33 T18 T12
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP T16 CUT
The Open Championship CUT T2 T15 T17 1
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Masters 1 CUT T3 1 CUT T2 4 T2 T11 5
U.S. Open DQ T41 CUT T4 T30 T5 T24 3 T32 T43
The Open Championship T19 T39 T13 T6 1 T39 T6 T50 1 T77
PGA Championship DNP T33 13 T27 5 T32 CUT T10 CUT T12
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters T7 T22 T59 T11 T18 T45 43 CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open T33 CUT T23 CUT T18 CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT T9 CUT T27 T38 T40 CUT CUT CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT T23 DNP DNP CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
The Masters CUT CUT CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP CUT
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

[edit] Summary of major championship performances

  • Starts – 87
  • Wins – 5
  • 2nd place finishes – 3
  • Top 3 finishes – 10
  • Top 5 finishes – 15
  • Top 10 finishes – 20
  • Longest streak of top-10s in majors – 4

[edit] Team appearances

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Seve Ballesteros Golf Legends. www.golflegends.org. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  2. ^ Seve Ballesteros Biography. www.biography.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  3. ^ Severiano Ballesteros. Golfing Greats. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  4. ^ "Ballesteros graces San Roque leaderboard - but it's not Seve", Reuters. Retrieved on 2008-01-13. 
  5. ^ Results for 1976, Royal Birkdale. OpenGolf.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
  6. ^ Miller and Ballesteros battle for the Open title. OpenGolf.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  7. ^ a b European Team Captain - Seve Ballesteros. www.theroyaltrophy.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
  8. ^ The Official World Golf Ranking 1986-2000. www.golftoday.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
  9. ^ Bowser, Betty Ann. "Year of the Tiger", PBS. Retrieved on 2008-01-19. 
  10. ^ World Golf Hall of Fame Member Profile. World Golf Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  11. ^ Kelley, Brent. Biography of golfer Seve Ballesteros. About.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
  12. ^ Ryder Cup: Past Results. The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  13. ^ 1997 Ryder Cup. The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  14. ^ PLUS: GOLF -- HALL OF FAME; 3 Members Named. The New York Times (1999-03-23). Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
  15. ^ Seve Trophy 2005: Seve Ballesteros. www.seve-trophy.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  16. ^ Laois County Council - Seve Trophy 2007. Laois County Council. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  17. ^ Yocom, Guy (July 2000). 50 Greatest Golfers of All Time: And What They Taught Us. Golf Digest. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  18. ^ Corrigan, James. "Ballesteros calls time on competitive career after 32 years", Independent News and Media Ltd.. Retrieved on 2008-01-20. 
  19. ^ Royal Trophy 2006. www.theroyaltrophy.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  20. ^ The Royal Trophy 2008. www.theroyaltrophy.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  21. ^ Amata Spring Country Club. www.theroyaltrophy.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
  22. ^ Ballesteros retires after failed try on Champions Tour. ESPN.com (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2007-07-16.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Persondata
NAME Severiano Ballesteros
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seve Ballesteros
SHORT DESCRIPTION Professional golfer
DATE OF BIRTH 1957-04-09
PLACE OF BIRTH Pedreña, Spain
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH