Severiano Ballesteros Sota (; 9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 international tournaments in his career, including five major championships between 1979 and 1988;

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

three times and the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

twice. He gained attention in the golfing world in 1976, when at the age of 19, he finished second at The Open. He played a leading role in the re-emergence of European golf, helping the European

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

team to five wins both as a player and captain. Ballesteros won a record 50

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

titles. He won at least one European Tour title for 17 consecutive years between 1976 and 1992. His final victory was at the 1995 Peugeot Spanish Open. Largely because of back-related injuries, Ballesteros struggled with his form during the late 1990s. Despite this, he continued to be involved in golf, creating the Seve Trophy and running a golf course design business. In 2000, ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its TNT Sports unit. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. The magazine started by John F. ...

'' magazine ranked Ballesteros as the greatest

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

an golfer of all time. In the 2000s, Ballesteros played sparingly due to continuing back problems and in 2007 he eventually retired from competitive professional golf. In 2008 he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. Ballesteros was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for the second time at the BBC Sports Personality Awards in 2009. He was presented with the award at his home in Spain by his compatriot and former Ryder Cup teammate

José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola (, ; born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish Basques, Basque professional golfer from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has wo ...

. Ballesteros died of brain cancer in 2011, aged 54.

Early life

Severiano Ballesteros Sota was born in the village of

Pedreña Pedreña is a village in the municipality of Marina de Cudeyo, Cantabria, northern Spain. As of 2010, its population was 1,454. Although located from Santander, Cantabria, Santander by road, it lies on a peninsula only about across the bay from ...

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

, Spain, on 9 April 1957, the youngest of five sons of Baldomero Ballesteros Presmanes (1919–1987), who was a farm labourer, and Carmen Sota Ocejo (1919–2002). One died in childhood, while all the others became professional golfers. He learned the game while playing on the beaches near his home, during the hours he was supposed to be in school, mainly using a

3-iron ''3-Iron'' () is a 2004 romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Kim Ki-duk. An international co-production between South Korea and Japan, the film stars Jae Hee as a young drifter who develops a relationship with an abused house ...

given to him by his older brother Manuel when he was eight years old. His maternal uncle Ramón Sota was Spanish professional champion four times and finished sixth in the

in 1965. Ballesteros's older brother Manuel finished in the top 100 on the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

every year from 1972 to 1983, and later became Ballesteros's manager. His brothers Vicente and Baldomero, and nephews Raúl and Ivan are also professional golfers.

Professional career

Ballesteros turned professional in March 1974 at the age of 16. He burst onto the international scene with a second-place finish in 1976 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. He led by two shots after the third round, but a final round 74 saw him tie for second with

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

, six shots behind the winner

Johnny Miller John Laurence Miller (born April 29, 1947) is an American former professional golfer. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 U.S. Open, and he ran ...

. He went on to win the European Tour Order of Merit (money title) that year, a title that he would win the next two years, and six times total, a record at the time (since surpassed by

Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour PGA European Tour#Order of Merit winners, Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutive ones from 1993 to 1 ...

). Ballesteros won his first Open Championship in 1979 with a closing 70, a round in which he famously hit his tee shot into a car park on the 16th hole yet still made birdie. Ballesteros went on to win five major championships: the

in 1980 and 1983, and

in 1979, 1984 and 1988. His 1980 Masters win was the first by a European player, and at the time he was the youngest winner of the tournament, at age 23 (though this record was broken by

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

in 1997, when he was 21 years old). 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 Arnaud George Watson Massy (; 6 July 1877 – 16 April 1950) was one of France's most successful professional golfers, most notable for winning the 1907 Open Championship. He was the first player from outside Scotland and England to win a major ...

won The Open in 1907. Ballesteros won the rain-delayed Masters in 1983 by five shots. As of 2023, he is the last golfer to win the Masters on a Monday. Ballesteros described the putt he holed on the 18th green at

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

to win the 1984 Open Championship as "the happiest moment of my whole sporting life." On 30 September 1983, Ballesteros joined the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

. In 1984 he played in 15 tournaments, the minimal amount allowed for a golfer with membership. The following season he played in only 9 tournaments. He was subsequently suspended by the PGA Tour for failing to meet his commitment. In 1988, Ballesteros won his fifth and last major title, The Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes. The final round was played on Monday after torrential rain had flooded the course and forced Saturday's play to be abandoned. He described his final round of 65 which beat

Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price (born 28 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional golfer who has won three major championships in his career: the PGA Championship twice (in 1992 and 1994) and The Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-1 ...

by two shots as "perhaps the best round of my entire career." For much of the 1980s and 1990s, Ballesteros was a mainstay of the European

team. He scored 22½ points in 37 matches against the United States; his partnership with fellow Spaniard

was the most successful in the history of the competition, with 11 wins and two halved matches out of 15 pairs matches. 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. Ballesteros led the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

for a total of 61 weeks in the period from their inauguration (in April 1986) to September 1989, including being world number one at the end of the 1988 season. He also led McCormack's World Golf Rankings, published in McCormack's "World Of Professional Golf" annuals (from which the official rankings were developed) in 1983, 1984 and 1985. He was ever-present in the end-of-season world's top ten according to those rankings for fifteen years, from 1977 to 1991 inclusive.

Late career and retirement

In 1999, Ballesteros was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. 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. In 2000, Ballesteros was ranked as the 16th greatest golfer of all time by ''

'' magazine; he was the top golfer from the continent of Europe. Ballesteros had played sparingly since the late 1990s because of 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 ran a thriving golf course design business and had been eligible for the Champions Tour and European Seniors Tour upon turning 50 in 2007. Ballesteros had been the captain of the European team in the Royal Trophy since its inception in 2006. 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 The Amata Spring Country Club is a private golf and country club near to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. It hosted two high-profile golf tournaments which were introduced in 2006, the Royal Trophy is a team competition between Europe and Asia and ...

in Bangkok. After further recurrences 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. Ballesteros was a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy. He had become involved in European golf course design in his later years, most famously altering the 17th hole at Valderrama before the 1997 Ryder Cup.

Personal life

Ballesteros was married to Carmen Botín O'Shea, daughter of Emilio Botín, from 1988 until their divorce in 2004, in the municipality of Marina de Cudeyo in Cantabria. The couple had three children, Javier, Miguel and Carmen. The marriage was said to have run into trouble when Ballesteros could not accept the fact his career was on the wane.

Death and legacy

At Madrid-Barajas Airport on 6 October 2008, Ballesteros lost consciousness and was admitted to hospital. Six days later, he confirmed that he had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. On 15 October, Spanish news agency

EFE Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major Spanish language, Spanish-language multimedia news agency and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was ...

reported that he had undergone a 12-hour operation to resect the tumour, the first of four operations he would have. A hospital spokeswoman stated that surgeons had removed a sizable part of the tumour. On 23 October, it was confirmed publicly that the tumour was classified as a cancerous oligoastrocytoma, and after a rapid deterioration of his health, further surgery took place on 24 October to stabilize him and try to remove the remainder of the tumour. On 24 October, it was confirmed that the tumour had been removed after a 6½-hour operation. On 3 November, it was confirmed by the hospital that he was starting his rehabilitation in the intensive care unit, and was breathing steadily. On 18 November, he was moved out of the intensive care unit and changed wards at Madrid's La Paz Hospital to continue his rehabilitation. Ballesteros was discharged from hospital on 9 December 2008. He then returned home to northern Spain and underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

treatment as an outpatient. In January 2009, a message on his website said he had responded well to one course of chemotherapy.

I am very motivated and working hard although I am aware that my recovery will be slow and therefore I need to be patient and have a lot of determination. For these reasons I am following strictly all the instructions that the doctors are giving me. Besides, the physiotherapists are doing a great job on me and I feel better every day.

Ballesteros completed a second course of chemotherapy at Madrid's La Paz Hospital in February 2009. Speaking through his website he said, "The results of the check-up were really positive, better even than the first ones." He finished a third round of treatment in March 2009, and completed his fourth and final course of chemotherapy a month later. In June 2009, Ballesteros made his first public appearance after treatment for the brain tumour. He said it was a "miracle" to be alive and he thanked everyone who had been involved in his care and welfare. At his first public appearance, Ballesteros announced the launch of the "Seve Ballesteros Foundation". This foundation was set up to help those with cancer fight it. The foundation aims to research cancer, especially brain tumours, but it will also help financially challenged young golfers, so they might be as successful as he. On 6 May 2011, Ballesteros's family released a statement announcing that his neurological condition had "suffered a severe deterioration". He died within hours of the announcement in the early hours of 7 May 2011 at the age of 54; his older brother Baldomero confirmed the precise time of death at 2:10 am CEST.

Tributes

The Open de España was underway when Ballesteros died. The

marked his death with a moment of silence during the third round at the Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona.

described Ballesteros as "one of the most talented and exciting golfers to ever play the game".

Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour an ...

said of Ballesteros, "Seve made European golf what it is today".

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...

, who won the 2010 Masters Tournament, selected a Spanish-themed menu for the 2011 Masters Champions Dinner in honour of Ballesteros, who was too ill to attend. Entrees included seafood paella and manchego-topped filet mignon, with a salad course, asparagus, and tortillas as sides, plus ice cream-topped apple empanada for dessert. At the Madrid Open tennis tournament, a moment of silence was held prior to the semi-final match between

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...

and

Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...

. Nadal, a close friend of Ballesteros, was seen wiping away tears as he watched the video screen. On 8 May, at 15:08 EST, the three major U.S. men's tours stopped play and held a moment of silence. On 10 May, the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' said of him: "He spoke many other languages too: the dialects of honour, of dignity, of sportsmanship, of decency, of fair play, of loyalty, of integrity, and in the end, of dauntless, unforgettable, astonishing courage. Quite simply, there has never been a finer ambassador for either his sport or his country." A funeral service was held for Ballesteros, previously cremated, at the parish church of San Pedro, in his home village of

. Due to the number of those in attendance, several big screens were installed outside the 400-capacity church. His ashes were then to be scattered at his home estate. The day of Ballesteros's death, the Spanish flag was raised at the World Golf Hall of Fame in Florida, the United States flag was lowered to half-staff, a photo of Ballesteros was hung in the box office, and a black ribbon was hung on the outside of his locker. The next weekend, at nearby TPC Sawgrass, the Spanish flag was flown at half-staff during the 2011 Players Championship at the request of defending champion Tim Clark, in place of his native

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n flag. Clark went on to state, "Seve was a hero of mine growing up...In losing imlast week, I think the whole golfing world is saddened by that. To have his flag up here is just a small little tribute to him. Obviously he deserves a whole lot more."

Legacy

The

2012 Ryder Cup The 39th Ryder Cup was held September 28–30, 2012, in the United States at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois, a suburb northwest of Chicago. This was the first time that the Ryder Cup was held in Illinois. Europe went into the ...

, the first to be played after Ballesteros's death, saw the European team wearing navy blue and white garments on the final day in memory of Seve, who traditionally wore navy blue on the last day of a tournament. Additionally, the team's kit also bore the silhouette of Ballesteros after his win at the 1984 Open Championship. The Irish golfer

Pádraig Harrington Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three men's major golf championships, major championships: The Open Championship in 2 ...

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

, and other European players proposed that the PGA replace the image of Harry Vardon on the

's official logo with one of Ballesteros (a silhouette of the iconic image of Ballesteros's "salute", following his win at the 1984 Open Championship). The airport of Ballesteros's homeland,

, has been named after him since the Spanish Government approved the change on 16 April 2015. The name was changed from Santander Airport to Seve Ballesteros – Santander Airport. This change was made after the regional parliament unanimously approved a petition in May 2014. The motivation behind this popular initiative was to honor Ballesteros for being one of the most universal of Cantabrians and an example in sports and life. In 2017, the European Tour Players' Player of the Year award was renamed in his honour. The first recipient of The Seve Ballesteros Award was Henrik Stenson.

Professional wins (90)

PGA Tour wins (9)

*''Note: The 1985 USF&G Classic was reduced to 54 holes due to inclement weather.'' PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

European Tour wins (50)

*Ballesteros and Langer agreed to share the 1986 Trophée Lancôme after failing light caused play to halt after four holes of a playoff. European Tour playoff record (8–4–1)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (6)

PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (1–1)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (1)

Safari Circuit wins (1)

Other wins (27)

*1974 Spanish National Championship for under 25s, Open de Vizcaya *1975 Spanish National Championship for under 25s *1976 Memorial Donald Swaelens, Cataluña Championship, Tenerife Championship, Lancome Trophy,

World Cup of Golf The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fir ...

(with Manuel Piñero) *1977 Braun International Golf (Germany),

(with Antonio Garrido) *1978 Spanish National Championship for under 25s *1979 Open el Prat *1981 Suntory World Match Play Championship *1982 Masters de San Remo (Italy), Suntory World Match Play Championship *1983 Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa) *1984 Suntory World Match Play Championship, Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa) *1985 Spanish Professional Closed Championship, Suntory World Match Play Championship, Campeonato de España-Codorniu *1987 Spanish Professional Closed Championship *1988 APG Larios *1991 Toyota World Match Play Championship *1992 Copa Quinto Centenario por Equipos *1995 Tournoi Perrier de Paris (with

)

Major championships

Wins (5)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half-way cut
DQ = disqualified
"T" = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1984 U.S. Open – 1986 Open Championship) *Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (1984 Open Championship – 1985 U.S. Open)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

(representing Europe):

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

(winners),

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

(winners),

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

(tied, cup retained),

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

(winners),

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

(winners – non-playing captain) *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing Spain):

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

(winners),

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

(winners),

* Double Diamond International: 1975 (Rest of the World), 1976 (Continental Europe), 1977 (Continental Europe) * Hennessy Cognac Cup (representing the Continent of Europe): 1976, 1978, 1980 * Dunhill Cup (representing Spain):

, 1986, 1988 * Seve Trophy (representing continental Europe):

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

(winners - playing captain),

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

(playing captain),

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

(playing captain),

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

(non-playing captain),

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

(non-playing captain) * Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2006 (winners – non-playing captain),

(winners – non-playing captain)

Equipment

Ballesteros used Ping putters consistently throughout his career and has more golden clubs for wins in the Ping Gold Putter Vault than any other player.

References

External links

* * * * * *
Seve Ballesteros
profile at Golf Legends
Official Seve Ballesteros Foundation homepageOfficial home page for the Seve Ballesteros Golf Academy''The Economist'' Obituary''The Guardian'' Obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballesteros, Seve Spanish male golfers Golfers from Cantabria European Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Winners of men's major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golf course architects BBC Sports Personality World Sport Star of the Year winners BBC Sports Personality Lifetime Achievement Award recipients People from Trasmiera Deaths from brain cancer in Spain 1957 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Spanish sportsmen

Early life

Professional career

Late career and retirement

Personal life

Death and legacy

Tributes

Legacy

Professional wins (90)

PGA Tour wins (9)

European Tour wins (50)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (6)

PGA Tour of Australia wins (1)

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (1)

Safari Circuit wins (1)

Other wins (27)

Major championships

Wins (5)

Results timeline

Summary

Results in The Players Championship

Team appearances

Equipment

See also

References

External links