Solheim Cup 2011 Gold Ireland
Five-times major winner Severiano Ballesteros has died today at the age of 54 after losing his battle against brain cancer.
Regarded by many as golf's greatest shot-maker, he was one of the most gifted and charismatic players to have graced the game.
The Spaniard, who died at his home in northern Spain, thrilled fans across the globe with his swashbuckling style, magical touch around the green, creativity and passion for the sport.
After revealing in October 2008 that he had a brain tumour, Ballesteros had four operations before undergoing a course of chemotherapy.
He appeared in public again for the first time in mid-2009 to a standing ovation and only last October seemed in high spirits and was cracking jokes at a symposium on brain tumours supported by his foundation.
His family announced yesterday that his neurological condition had deteriorated severely. "Today, at 2.10am Spanish time, Seve Ballesteros passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena," they said in a statement on the player's personal website.
The final cause of death was respiratory problems, the statement added.
Ballesteros piled up 87 titles worldwide, 50 of them on the European Tour, and his sublime golf skills were more than a match for his erratic driving while in his pomp.
A winner of three British Opens and two Masters titles, he gave the European game a much-needed lift in the late 1970s. Along with Briton Tony Jacklin, he was chiefly responsible for reviving Europe's fortunes in the Ryder Cup team competition.
Ballesteros became a father figure for Spanish golf and replaced American Arnold Palmer as the game's most flamboyant and charismatic figure.
From the age of seven, he was using a cut-down three-iron on the beach near his home in Santander and this helped him master the art of the manufactured shot from just off the green which lasted throughout his career.
His 50th and final European Tour title came, rather appropriately, at the 1995 Spanish Open. Two years later, though, he was able to celebrate one of the crowning achievements of his career. At Valderrama in Spain, he led Europe to a rousing Ryder Cup victory over the United States.
He made a natural choice as non-playing European captain on his home soil and was inspiration personified as he charged across the course in a golf cart urging on his troops.
Six years ago, Ballesteros reflected on his glory days as a player: "I have had a wonderful career and I have a wonderful life. The Ballesteros era is over but I was the Tiger of my day."
