With the British Open today teeing off at Royal Lytham and St.Annes, it seems only right that I share my personal favourite, Seve Ballesteros moment. You see, Royal Lytham and St.Annes is the site of the infamous 1979 Open championship where a young Seve Ballesteros captured his first Open Championship after a miraculous shot from a temporary car park beside the 16th Fairway. Seve, at the stage was just begin to mature into the peak of his powers, refining a once in a generation golf game that at times featured more great escapes than an Houdini act. While most people reading this will remember Seve at the height of his powers, winning majors and Ryder Cup matches, my own memory comes on a wet Irish weekend in 2002.
Druids Glen was the venue for that year’s edition of the Seve Trophy, a competition that saw continental Europe face their British and Irish counterparts. By then age had stripped Seve of the talent and youthful exuberance that had made him one of the world’s most prominent golfers. However, it could not take away his sense of showmanship and desire to win. A grizzled vet, no longer the rebellious kid who shook up golf, Ballesteros was playing in a Fourball with fellow Spaniard, Jose Maria Olazabal, against the hometown partnership of Harrington and McGinley. Then this happened
As the saying goes, class is permanent.
