This past Saturday, the world of golf sadly lost one of it's lions, Severiano Ballesteros, 56, from Spain, the father of modern European golf and the winner of 5 Major Golf Championships. Seve died stubbornly after two plus years of hell battling a malignant brain tumor. A terrible ending for someone so gifted, so charismatic, so courageous, so handsome, so young....so everything. Not only a multiple winner on the professional worldwide golf circuit, Seve, more importantly, was a tv room winner of 100 million plus hearts around planet golf. He lived a modest 54 years but his memory will endure forever for those people who recognized and respected his competitive genius and skill in such a tough game, golf.
Many of you know of Seve's exploits on the golf courses of the world as a professional golfer. St. Andrews. Augusta. Royal Lytham and St. Annes. Ryder Cup. He beat the best in the world on golf's grandest stages and moments. Nicklaus, Watson, Crenshaw, Langer, Kite, Price, Floyd, Irwin all bobbed in his wake. However in awe his professional opponents were of his game, we his adoring public and seriously-flawed Walter Mitty wannabee good golfers, stood in greater awe. Why? Because his game was so human, so flawed yet divine.
We connected on a visceral level with Seve. We all had something in common with Seve. We hit it sideways off the tee, like Seve. Totally human. But that's where the similarity ended. While we stayed in trouble after the second and sometimes third shots, Seve miraculously extricated himself from trouble the first time. He showed us how to do it. Get out of trouble and save par and maybe birdie. Recovery was possible. Seve did it. He gave us hope to make the shot. He made golf fun and thrilling even in the darkest of times.
Revered columnist of the LA Times, Jim Murray, wrote of Seve, "Seve Ballesteros goes after a golf course the way a lion goes after a zebra." But I get the sense that Seve did not reserve this style only to golf but to everyday life. As Red said in the movie Shawshank Redemption, "get busy living or get busy dying." Seve lived fully until he was not able.
Seve made the European Golf Tour relevant in the same way Arnold Palmer made the PGA Tour relevant to the fan. They had an authentic human embrace for the fans and for the game and in turn we had it for them.
Seve, your pain is over now, golf and your fans will miss you but we will never forget you. Thank you for the memories.
May God welcome you warmly in the prized foursome above.
Que descanse en paz.
Ole! Ole!! Ole!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment