A prayer for Seve

Occasionally a sportsman comes along who radiates such an aura that he seems to own the camera.

Muhammad Ali was obviously in this category as is Tiger Woods, but my all-time favourite was Seve Ballesteros.

There was electricity in the air when he played; a crackle and spark that set him apart.

His emotions were there for all to see, determination and aggression in his every move – an enticing package that once caused broadcaster Kim Shippey, while he was at the SABC, to describe his favourite sport as “any game Seve Ballesteros chooses to play!”

His matadorial victory jig on the 18th green at St Andrews after winning his second British Open in 1984 is one of the most memorable sporting clips ever and his duel with Nick Price on the last day of the 1988 The Open at Royal Lytham & St Anne’s provided some of the best golfing action ever recorded.

He transcended his sport and that’s why it is so difficult to think of him lying in a hospital bed in Madrid fighting for his life.

Ballesteros has already had three operations to try to repel a brain tumour and despatches are that his condition is extremely serious and that the prognosis is not favourable at all.

One can but pray that he will win through; that the spirit that made him a winner of five major titles and which inspired a generation of outstanding European golfers will get him through this, his toughest ever challenge.

I first made is acquaintance while covering golf for The Argus in Cape Town. It was 1975 and the Western Province Open was being played at Rondebosch Golf Club.

Some of the professionals talked of this young Spaniard, his hot temper and his propensity for hurling clubs. A long-time campaigner requested that the rules officials keep an eye on him.

Come the third round and we were all keeping an eye on him and trying to spell his name! The youngster, then 17, was in contention and caused us to wrestle with the spelling and pronunciation of his moniker, Severiano Ballesteros.

He could not speak English at all and his elder brother Manuel, also a golf pro, had to accompany him to the Press room to translate his interviews.

Going into the final nine he was still right in the fight but then fell away in a tournament in which an American, Bill Brask, eventually beat the late John Fourie in a play-off for the title.

Little did we know that we had witnessed the germination of a great golfing talent.

The following year he burst on the international stage by chasing Johnny Miller home in the British Open at Royal Birkdale, conjuring up a magical running chip to thread the ball between the bunkers at the last to save par and tie for second with Jack Nicklaus.

In 1979 he won the first of his majors, becoming know as the “Carpark Champion” for having played a great second shot after a wayward drive on his way to triumphing at Lytham, and after winning the U.S. Masters in 1980 he was invited to be part of the five-man field in what turned out to be the inaugural Million Dollar (now the Nedbank Challenge) at Sun City in 1981.

By then his management company had shortened his name to Seve – a boon to headline writers – and he wooed South African fans with his swashbuckling approach as he and Johnny Miller became involved in an epic nine-hole play-off that would put the event on the map.

Ballesteros would win the title in 1983 and 1984 and one of my most memorable nights occurred at the mirrored Raffles restaurant when, out of the blue, he plonked himself down at the table I was sharing with a couple of the Press guys; revealing himself to be an amusing raconteur as he told stories of hitting balls on the beach in Santander in Spain or shooting par while playing with just one club.

His march to victory in 1984 revealed another side to his character – a fierce pride and suspicious nature that sometimes led to squabbles with fellow players.

Ballesteros actually won the tournament with a ball that was slightly cut (those were the days of balata!) – because his caddie had forgotten to take out a stock of new balls and because he couldn’t bring himself to borrow a ball from his playing partner Nick Faldo!

Seve’s star did not burn for long. His last major was in 1988 and it was with sadness that I watched, from afar, as a game he could no longer bend to his will got the better of him.

I used to love watching him win and now my prayers go out to him that he’ll win this fight for his life.