Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros Sota
April 9, 1957 - May 7, 2011
 We are deeply saddened that Severiano Ballesteros, our good friend and Honorary Chairman of the Advisory Board, passed away May 7 at his home in Pedreña at the young age of 54.
Seen by most as the best European golfer of all time, Seve's incredible talent, charisma and enthusiasm brought so much to the world of golf. Always drawing a great crowd of spectators, he made people smile wherever he went.
His passing away is a great tragedy and our condolences goes out to his family and loved ones.
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Seve's career in short
Born in Pedreña, Cantabria, Spain, Seve learned to play golf as a kid on the beaches with a 3-iron and turned professional at the age of 16. Two year's later, in 1976, he came 2nd place in the Open Championship and won the European Tour Order of Merit (money title) three consecutive years (six times in his career).
He won his first Open Championship in 1979 at age 22, making him the youngest winner and went on to win five major championships (The Masters in 1980 and 83, and The Open Championship in 1979, 84 and 88.) His 1980 Masters win made him the first European as well as the youngest winner at age 23.
Seve was also one of the greatest match players ever by winning the World Match Play Championship five times and was part of the European Ryder Cup team for much of the 1980s and 90s. With 11 wins and two halved matches out of 15 pairs matches, his partnership with fellow Spaniard José María Olazábal was the most successful in the history of the competition.
The height of his Ryder Cup career was in 1997 when he captained the winning European side at Valderrama, Spain, the first Ryder Cup ever held in continental Europe.
Ballesteros led the Official World Golf Rankings for a total of 61 weeks (April 1986 to September 1989), as well as led McCormack's World Golf Rankings, from which the official rankings were developed, from 1983 to 1985.  |
In 1981 Seve won the Scandinavian Enterprise Open, today known as Scandinavian Masters.
Here we see Severiano receiving the trophy from tournament founder Sven Tumba, also founder of World Golfers Championship.
Seve participated in Scandinavian Enterprise Open five times.
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