Sadness on two continents with news of Ballesteros' death
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Paul Casey had a lump in his throat the size of a range ball and tears welling up that could have filled one of the Quail Hollow Club's creeks.
He was having a hard time coming to grips with the mortality of his golfing hero, Seve Ballesteros, who died from complications of a cancerous brain tumor early Saturday morning. He was 54.
After finishing his round at the Wells Fargo Championship, Casey, an Englishman who plays on both the PGA and European tours, had trouble spitting out a response to the news that Ballesteros, 54, widely considered the most influential player in European golf history, had taken a turn for the worse Friday.
Casey used to follow Seve around like he was golf's pied piper whenever the European Tour visited Wentworth outside London. Ballesteros had charisma, panache and a swashbuckling playing style that endeared him to the entire continent, and then some.
"He was my idol," Casey said, pausing as his eyes watered. "He was the guy I used to watch at Wentworth when I was a kid, go down and watch the PGA and the Match Play. He was the only one I wanted to sort of watch because you always knew it was going to be exciting, no matter what kind of golf he was playing."
For the American audience that never saw him play, Ballesteros' style was a cross between Arnold Palmer's magnetism and Phil Mickelson's improvisational hero shots. The five-time major winner and Hall of Famer was more miraculous with a short stick than Merlin with his magic wand.
Ballesteros' last win was at the Spanish Open in 1995, which coincidentally is being played this week on the European Tour, and his dire condition is huge news at the venue. Rightly so, countryman Sergio Garcia said before his round on Friday at Quail Hollow.
"It should be big everywhere," Garcia said. "You know, he has been one of my idols. He has done so much for Spanish golf, worldwide, he done a lot of good things for the game of golf.
"But it is the way of life. We are all going to end up there one day."
Those who competed against him recalled what a fierce competitor Ballesteros was in his prime. Davis Love faced Ballesteros in his first three matches as a Ryder Cup rookie, which was quite a baptism against the man who put the Ryder Cup on the map. Before continental Europe was added in 1979, the Ryder was a one-sided affair that generated little interest outside of traditional golf fans. Ballesteros led Europe to multiple victories that instilled a competitive fire that still burns bright on both sides of the Atlantic
"He was an icon in the game, somebody I looked up to," Love said. "I copied his swing, everybody wanted to be as exciting, fun and flashy as Seve -- but maybe hit a few more fairways. Everybody loved that style. They wanted to be aggressive and flamboyant and to play like that."
In some ways, that's how many top stars play the game these days. Blow it down there off the tee, find it and hit it again. Seve was never the best ballstriker, but nobody ever ad-libbed their way around a course better.
"It was great to get to play against him some," said Love, 47. "It is sad and makes you realize that no matter how great a player you are, your time will come eventually. He enjoyed his life."
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