Seve dead at age 54

MADRID (AP):

Seve Ballesteros was a genius with a golf club in his hands, an inspiration to everyone who saw him create shots that didn't seem possible. The Spaniard's passion and pride revived European golf and made the Ryder Cup one of the game's most compelling events.

Ballesteros, a five-time major champion whose incomparable imagination and fiery personality made him one of the most significant figures in modern golf, died yesterday from complications of a cancerous brain tumour. He was 54.

His career was defined not only by what he won, but how he won.

A statement on Ballesteros' website early yesterday said he died peacefully at 2:10 a.m. local time, surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena. It was in this small Spanish town where Ballesteros first wrapped his hands around a crude 3-iron and began inventing shots that he would display on some of golf's grandest stages.

"I held his hands, caressed them and thought: 'what these hands have done in the world'," his brother Baldomero told Spanish agency Efe. "He knew he was dying, and he did it with full presence of mind.

"What is leaving us is more than a brother, a son or a father; what is leaving us is glory."

Ballesteros won the Masters at 23, leading by 10 shots at one point in the final round. He was a three-time winner of the British Open, no moment greater than his 1984 victory at St Andrews. He was as inspirational in Europe as Arnold Palmer was in America, a handsome figure who feared no shot and often played from where no golfer had ever been.

"Today, golf lost a great champion and a great friend. We also lost a great entertainer and ambassador for our sport," Jack Nicklaus said. "No matter the golf that particular day, you always knew you were going to be entertained. Seve's enthusiasm was just unmatched by anybody I think that ever played the game."