by John Furgurson
Golf is not the most exciting sport in the world to watch. But every 20 years or so, a new character appears who brings excitement, charisma and youthful exhuberance to the normally tedious story-line of professional golf.
There was Arnold Palmer in the 50s. Jack Nicklaus in the 60′s. Seve Ballesteros in the early 80′s. Tiger Woods in 2000.
But nobody did it quite like Seve.
Seve with the Claret Jug.
Every time you’d tune in you’d find Seve somewhere other than the fairway… In the trees. On adjoining fairways. In knee-deep rough. Even in parking lots. He’d play 18 holes, hit only one or two fairways, and still post a 67. Drove his competitors nuts, but it made for great TV.
As it said in his New York Times obituary; “He was feisty. He was proud. He was charming. He made people watch, and he usually gave them something to remember.”
Stark contrast to today’s run-of-the-mill PGA pro.
Seve didn’t gain attention on tour by wearing crazy clothes or bombing it a mile past everyone else. He built his reputation by executing super-human shots that no other player would even contemplate trying. And by winning.
Take, for instance, the 1979 British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Leading by two shots in the final round, he drove his ball into a parking lot next to the 16th fairway. (Some say he did that on purpose in order to play his next shot into the wind.) Seve calmly had a car moved, then fired his second shot off the pavement to 15 feet and made birdie to win his first major.
Let’s face it, he had bigger cojones than anyone else on tour. He was the Matador of the Masters.
Seve was the first, real golfing prodigy. But he wasn’t raised with a hall pass to the biggest guru’s golf academy. He learned to play on a hard-sand beach. With nothing but a 3-iron. He invented shots, and used his imagination as his number-one weapon.
Seve never analyzed his swing or subjected himself to self-inflicted swing changes. He wasn’t interested in the mechanics of it. He just wanted to get the ball in the hole. And that, he did.
Ballesteros won a record 50 times on the European tour. At the age of 16 he finished second at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. He obliterated the field in the 1980 Masters and became the youngest Masters champion until Woods won at age 21. He was a three-time winner of the British Open and had a total of five majors to his credit.
However, I have to say Seve wasn’t so successful when it comes to teaching. From a learning standpoint, his book, “Troubleshooting” was entertaining, but not much help. Because no one can pull off the type of shots that Seve demonstrates in there. Seriously…
The left-handed toe shot against the trunk of a tree.
The 5-iron from a greenside bunker.
The left-handed shot with the back of a long-iron.
The one-handed backhand shot from U.S. Open rough.
The sand wedge off the pavement.
Forget About It! Makes Tiger’s two-iron stinger seems simple.
Pretty soon another young golf prodigy will come along and steal the show. Maybe Rory McIlroy, the young Irishman. Or Ryo Ishikawa… Doubtful.
Seve had something extra, something beyond his playing ability and his Latin good looks that made him fun to watch. Fun to root for. And absolutely unforgettable.
I doubt we’ll ever see another character quite like Seve Ballesteros.
