Seve Ballesteros

Seve Ballesteros
Ballesteros in 2006
Personal information
Full nameSeveriano Ballesteros Sota
Born(1957-04-09)9 April 1957
Pedreña, Cantabria, Spain
Died7 May 2011(2011-05-07) (aged 54)
Pedreña, Cantabria, Spain
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Sporting nationality Spain
Spouse
Carmen Botín O'Shea
(m. 1988; div. 2004)
Children3
Career
Turned professional1974
Former tour(s)
Professional wins90
Highest ranking1 (27 April 1986)
(61 weeks)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour9
European Tour50 (1st all time)
Japan Golf Tour6
PGA Tour of Australasia2
Other28
Best results in major championships
(wins: 5)
Masters TournamentWon: 1980, 1983
PGA Championship5th: 1984
U.S. Open3rd: 1987
The Open ChampionshipWon: 1979, 1984, 1988
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame1999 (member page)
European Tour Order of Merit winner1976, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1991
European Tour Golfer of the Year1986, 1988, 1991

Severiano Ballesteros Sota (Spanish pronunciation: [seβeˈɾjano βaʎesˈteɾos]; 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 three times and the Masters Tournament 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 team to five wins both as a player and captain.

Ballesteros won a record 50 European Tour titles.[1] 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 magazine ranked Ballesteros as the greatest Continental European 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.

Ballesteros died of brain cancer in 2011, aged 54.

  1. ^ "Past Honorees – 2010: Severiano Ballesteros". The Memorial Tournament. 2 June 2019. Archived from the original on 17 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2013.