Bandera de Espana unfurled at TPC Sawgrass in honour of Severiano Ballesteros
Tributes kept pouring in for the great golfing legend Severiano 'Seve' Ballesteros who passed away last Saturday in his home town in Pedrena, northern Spain after giving in to a three-year long battle with brain Tumour.
Ballesteros had been fighting the dreadful disease since 2008 when he was first diagnosed with cancer. He reportedly fainted on the Madrid International Airport while he was boarding a flight to Germany.
People thronged the squares in Spain, demanding a memorial in homage to the great golfer. The American Tour observed a minute’s silence in all the three events and defying tradition, Spanish flag was raised at TPC Sawgrass, the venue for this week’s Players
Championship.
As the tradition goes, the national f*g of the defending champion is hoisted a week before the run-up to the event, which is also known as “the fifth major”. Tim Clark, the reigning champion, requested the organizers to raise the Bandera de Espana in honour
of the great golfer, which was accepted. The officials also decided to fly the Players Championship flag half-mast for the day.
Ballesteros was one player who gave Ryder Cup a whole new life when his team won the 1987 cup. It was due to Ballesteros' ceaseless efforts that the continental Europe was brought into the fold of the Ryder Cup, as Colin Montgomerie rightly referred to him
as “Europe’s Spiritual Leader”.
“Seve completely changed the face of European golf,” said the Scot. “He is the reason why it is in the enviable position it is today. The Ryder Cup is the international event it is because of one man. There is a huge amount to thank that one man for.”
Rafael Nadal, the infamous tennis player, also paid tribute to the great golfer.
“One of the greats of this country without a doubt, a reference point for all Spanish athletes,” said Nadal.
Ballesteros had been fighting a soaring back pain for a very long time and hardly made any appearance since 1999. He announced his retirement with blurry eyes in 2007 at Carnoustie before the 2007 British Open. After his fall from a golf cart when he injured
his head, Ballesteros kept a low profile and never made into public gatherings.
A pale and thin Ballesteros tried to participate in the Champions Tour, but without luck. His eyes without the flare, with an ailing back, and with his game that has left him several years back, Ballesteros decided to bid farewell to the love of his life.
“He invented shots around the green,” Nicklaus said in the weeks before Ballesteros was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999. “You don't find many big hitters like him with that kind of imagination and touch around the green.”
Ballesteros' funeral will be held on Wednesday at his home town in Pedrena and an adjacent players ceremony will also be held at Sawgrass the same day.
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