Seve Stories

[Mike_Cocking]

I thought with the sad news of Seve's decline overt the last couple of days it would be a good time to hear again some of the great stories and shots of his career - particularly those of you who may have happened to see them in person.

I could listen to Seve storeis all day long.  Mike (Clayton) has some good ones and I was in Spain recently and spent some time with Domingo Hosptial who played a lot with him who also had some great ones.  A full three wood out of a bush (ball at waste height) during a practice round was probably the best one.  Somehow he managed to fade it......and get on the green! 

I'd especially love to know if any one was there to see the famous ones - the wall shot in the 93 european masters at crans, or the 3 wood against fuzzt zoeller on the last at PGA National.   A pity neither were captured on video!

[Dan King]

It's hard to beat his thrill at sinking the putt to win the Open Championship at St. Andrews, but I followed him in his singles match at the Ryder Cup at Oak Hill. I've never seen anything like that. It was an amazing demonstration. Anyone else with his game that day would have given up. Seve thought he could win even though he had nothing but a short game. He took Lehman to I believe the 15th hole. It was an amazing round of golf in a losing effort.

I remember a shot he hit at a different tournament where the ball was in deep rough, steep downhill lie with a small bush right in his way. He took the widest stance I've ever seen, kept his head still and somehow got the ball over the bush and finished about 6 feet from the hole.

Cheers,
Dan King

Nobody could have done that. Nobody could have done it from the places that he hit it. It's the best nine holes of golf I've ever seen, that front nine. He shot even par. I would have shot probably 9 over.
 --Tom Lehman (on playing Seve Ballesteros in singles at the 1995 Ryder Cup)

[Mike_Cocking]

Thanks Dan,

It must have been amazing to watch - I remember seeing highlights of that round but sadly didn't see it live.  The Ryder Cup barely made the papers in Australia back then, let alone be televised... although not so bad now.

Heres a decent wrap up of 6 of his best from news article a couple of years ago - some of you may have read it previously.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/mar/13/joy-of-six-seve-ballesteros

[astavrides]

David Feherty once wrote about the first time he played with Seve and Seve kept calling him "Doug".  I wish I could find that column.

[Joe Bausch]

David Feherty once wrote about the first time he played with Seve and Seve kept calling him "Doug".  I wish I could find that column.

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1579162-0,00.html

[PCCraig]

Seve became my favorite golfer of all time after hearing many of these stories. I'm too young to have watched him in the prime of his career, but and old boss/mentor would tell me Seve stories for hours during a putting or chipping game we'd play for a few $.

One of my favorites was from a practice round at the Masters, where my boss was watching him at the range, just hitting shots. He then went over to the practice bunker and was puting himself in terrible lies, stances, etc.  But the best part was when he started hitting 3-irons out of the with the same distance and height as most of us would hit a lob wedge from a greenside bunker. At that point a number of other players stopped practicing to watch him... Something that doesn't happen anymore on tour.

[Tim Martin]

Seve became my favorite golfer of all time after hearing many of these stories. I'm too young to have watched him in the prime of his career, but and old boss/mentor would tell me Seve stories for hours during a putting or chipping game we'd play for a few $.

One of my favorites was from a practice round at the Masters, where my boss was watching him at the range, just hitting shots. He then went over to the practice bunker and was puting himself in terrible lies, stances, etc.  But the best part was when he started hitting 3-irons out of the with the same distance and height as most of us would hit a lob wedge from a greenside bunker. At that point a number of other players stopped practicing to watch him... Something that doesn't happen anymore on tour.

Pat- At the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont there was a group of Euro players who were watching Bubba Watson on the range playing a variety of shots that arguably no one else in the field had up their sleeve. Very cool to watch them watch Bubba.

[Mark Bourgeois]

It's hard to beat his thrill at sinking the putt to win the Open Championship at St. Andrews, but I followed him in his singles match at the Ryder Cup at Oak Hill. I've never seen anything like that. It was an amazing demonstration. Anyone else with his game that day would have given up. Seve thought he could win even though he had nothing but a short game. He took Lehman to I believe the 15th hole. It was an amazing round of golf in a losing effort.

I remember a shot he hit at a different tournament where the ball was in deep rough, steep downhill lie with a small bush right in his way. He took the widest stance I've ever seen, kept his head still and somehow got the ball over the bush and finished about 6 feet from the hole.

Cheers,
Dan King

Nobody could have done that. Nobody could have done it from the places that he hit it. It's the best nine holes of golf I've ever seen, that front nine. He shot even par. I would have shot probably 9 over.
 --Tom Lehman (on playing Seve Ballesteros in singles at the 1995 Ryder Cup)

Agreed, Dan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9gXnqUCKOI

In so many ways it would appear that round was a metaphor for his life, and ultimately for his death, don't you think? Reminds us all to go down fighting to the last.

[Mark Buzminski]

When I was 15, I vividly remember an afternoon at the short game practice green with my golf buddies, after reading a Seve article in a golf magazine.  In the article, Seve taught - amazingly - how to hit bunker shots with a 2 iron!!  The gist of it is that you just grip way down the club, way way down on the steel of the shaft, about half-way down the shaft.   If you grip that low on the club, you get all kinds of wrist cock.  Then you just lay the face open a little, and the ball splashes out!  It's amazing, but it works - we were all just incredulous that it could be done.  In the article Seve was talking about all the shots he learned to play while hitting stones on the beach in Pedrena, Spain.  So there we were, splashing bunker shots out, soft as can be with our 2 irons, huge smiles on our faces...

[Sean Remington (SBR)]

   Seve won many majors and ove 90 other events so he wasn't always hitting crazy recovery shots but he more than most seems to be connected with those wonderful and creative shots that only he could pull off.  Wouldn't it be a nice tribute to Seve that if someday his name was associated with those recovery shots as part of the game?  Just as common as the term "Birdie' or "Par".  Not sure if it would catch on or would be appropriate but it would keep his memory and name alive in the game.  So the next time you need to hit a punch out, low running hook up to the green and you pull it off just tell your group you just hit a "Seve".

   May he Rest In Peace.

[Bruce Leland]

I first saw Seve play at the 1978 Masters, which I believe was his second.  Gary Player won that year with a closing round of 64 to come from 7 back.  I was pulling for Seve since we were the same age and I liked the way he played the game.  I followed him for a few holes on the back 9 and though no specific shot stands out, I became a fan that day and remain one today. 

Love the Lehman quote:  Quote

Nobody could have done that. Nobody could have done it from the places that he hit it. It's the best nine holes of golf I've ever seen, that front nine. He shot even par. I would have shot probably 9 over.
 --Tom Lehman (on playing Seve Ballesteros in singles at the 1995 Ryder Cup)

R.I.P. Seve

[astavrides]

David Feherty once wrote about the first time he played with Seve and Seve kept calling him "Doug".  I wish I could find that column.

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1579162-0,00.html

I should've known the master researcher could find it for me.  Thanks, Joe.  I very much enjoyed reading that one again.

[Mark Woodger]

we have the concept of a 'seve par'. you basically scratch it all over the place on the hole and by hook or by crook you still get that par.

i had one once. hacked it in the trees right, blasted a wedge away from the hole into the trees left, hit an 8 iron from there to two feet and holed it. i still remember it because it was the first time i had heard the phrase and it summed Seve up perfectly.

I like the seve and super seve idea. i will do that next time i play.

i am too young to have seen seve in his prime but one shot i recall seve playing near the end of his regular tour days (i was watching on tv) was at the final hole of a tournament, he needed birdie to tie (i think) he puts the drive right behind a tree, calls the rules official over and "discussed" for a good 10 minutes whether he could get a drop. he didn't get the drop,  took a three wood and carved it around the tree and into the back bunker. and as an example of how he never gave up he took the pin out because he thought he would hole it from the bunker!!

one thing i recall is how he always looked like he was having so much fun! there is not enough of that on tour these days.

he will be missed.

[Dan King]

We always had an Arnie as making a birdie without ever touching the (correct) fairway. A Seve was making birdie while never hitting the correct fairway or green. An Arnie was worth and extra dot, a Seve was worth two-extra dots. Buddy of mine was always trying to make a Seve. He lost countless dots while attempting to get his Seve, but eventually made the Seve and earned his two dots.

Cheers,
Dan King

Fairway, fairway, fairway. . . boring, boring, boring. I am great fun for the gallery. I mix with them and let them tell me what to do.
 --Seve Ballesteros

[Dan King]

Another quote I just felt the need to share today:
God said to Faldo, as He once said to Nicklaus, "You will have the skills like no other." Then he whispered to Ballesteros, as he whispered to Palmer, "but they will love you more."
 --Tom Callahan

Cheers,
Dan King

Seve can have an off week and still win. But if Seve plays well and the rest of us play well, Seve wins.
 --Ben Crensahw (on Seve Ballesteros)

[Mitch Hantman]

I was fortunate to see the famous 3 wood in the '83 Ryder Cup.  To give you a feel for how different the Ryder Cup was then - people couldn't give tickets away.  It was a drizzly day in October, and my wife were following Ben Crenshaw around in the morning against Sandy Lyle, and we comprised two of the three people in that gallery on the 10th hole!

Seve hits the first of two bunkers on the left off the tee on 18.  Keep in mind this is before Nicklaus redesigned this course, so the bunkers were different style.  He hit the 3 wood only about 30 yards into the next bunker after catching the lip, then kept the 3 wood in hand for the second shot.  I told my wife I didn't think he could get it over the huge lip with that club, but he proceeded to hit the green with a high cut, 240 yards, with persimmon/balata.  I still don't know how he did it....

[Dale Jackson]

A story about Seve as a Captain of a European team.  Each year Seve's production company puts on the Royal Trophy in Thailand, a Ryder Cup-style competition between players on the European Tour and Asian Tour.  The first few years Seve captained the European side.  One year, 2007 I think, I had the pleasure of being one of the referees for the event.

In addition to his prowess as a player, Seve was renowned in rules circles for being one of the most forceful and obstinate players to deal with, and in fact there is a video that is still used in rules seminars around the world of Seve talking his way into a favourable relief situation when he was not entitled to the ruling he eventually received.  I first saw that video 2 or 3 days before I left for Thailand and was both apprehensive about possible dealings with him on the course and determined that I would apply the rules correctly, regardless of any hijinks he might try to pull.  I spent the next few days and a good part of the flight to Asia buried in the Decisions book.

Of course nothing happened and Seve was gracious to everyone he met.  By the last day of the competition the European team enjoyed a comfortable lead and Seve was quite expansive.  My main memory of the event is of Seve and I walking down a fairway and with his arm draped on my shoulder him saying "My friend, my team is playing well - yes?".

I have been fortunate to have met many great players over the years but no one had the personal charisma of Seve Ballesteros.  Whatever "it" is, Seve had "it" in abundance.

[David_Tepper]

I think have mentioned this here in the past, but I remember a passage in one of Herbert Warren Wind's New Yorker articles about the Masters, where he devoted several paragraphs simply to describing one of Seve's warm-up sessions there. He made it sound almost like a performance. I doubt Wind would have found any other golfers practice session nearly as compelling.     
 

[MikeJones]

I suppose everyone has a 'Seve story' here's mine and it's a good one!

Many years ago I was lucky enough to play at Wentworth in the European tour PGA championship. I'd qualified for it through playing well enough in club pro tournaments in my region of the UK but I was really out of my depth at Tour level.
I remember in the first round the rain came down so strongly that they abandoned play for the day, my ball was just over the 14th green and I was left with a nasty short pitch from a downhill lie to a green that sloped away from me back down the hill.
I knew there was a strong possibility of actually hitting it all the way down the slippery slope and back off the front edge of the green if I screwed up.

As the play had been halted for the day, I had all night to think about that nightmare shot and it was still in my mind in the morning as I warmed up. I went to the chipping green and found a similar lie to the shot I would have to play and started practicing it.
I was useless, I just didn't have the required finesse to play that shot, no matter what I tried, the ball just shot miles past the flag I was aiming for.

As luck would have it, Seve was warming up too and dropped some balls close to where I was hitting from.
I stopped and watched him pitch onto the green and of course he had no problem! I watched how he was taking a very long swing and then almost letting the weight of the club just drop down onto the back of the ball.
His clubhead seemed to be actually slowing down as it hit the ball and the ball just popped up quickly and stopped within a few feet of landing.
Even for a pro that's an extremely difficult shot. After yet another ball landed like the proverbial 'butterfly with sore feet' he looked up, saw me watching him, and smiled.

He never said a word but I tried to copy what he was doing and after a few shots I was getting the hang of it. We went back out onto the course for the restart and do you know what, I chipped it in!
I just looked at my caddy and we both burst out laughing - thanks Seve!

I've thought about that moment many times since then and I still wonder if he saw me struggling and came over and came me an impromtu demonstration of how it should be done.  Maybe it was just a co-incedence but either way it was something I'll never forget.

RIP Seve you live on in the hearts of golfers all over the world.

[JLahrman]

I can't find the article now because searches just turn up articles about Seve's death, but maybe 10 or 12 years ago there was a lengthy interview with him in Golf Digest.  My favorite passage (I'm paraphrasing the question, but not Seve's response):

Q:  What do you miss most about playing championship golf?

Seve:  The pressure.

Great stuff.

[Tom_Doak]

When I was just out of college, I twice walked practice rounds with Ben Crenshaw when he was playing with Seve, once with Peter Jacobsen as well.  Both Ben and Peter are very creative players and pretty skilled at the short game, but they were just in awe of Seve and loved to play with him whenever they could.  Seve's English was not very good then [early 1980's] so he did not speak all that much during the rounds.

After one practice round at the TPC at Sawgrass, Seve went over to the practice bunker near the first tee and started hitting little splash shots out of the bunker -- with his 2-iron, gripped down onto the steel of the shaft, feet splayed wide apart and stance wide open.  Ben and Peter watched him do that for about ten minutes, and when he was done, Peter, being a great mimic, went down to try it himself ... he couldn't do it at first, but Seve gave him a couple of pointers, and eventually Peter started hitting the shot reasonably well himself.  Ben also tried it a few times and got the hang of it a bit; I learned enough to practice it at home.  After Seve left, a couple of other pros who had been watching gave it one or two tries, bladed their shots across the green, and left shaking their heads.

A bit later in his career, Seve started working with Mac O'Grady a bit -- perhaps the oddest couple in the history of golf, though both were geniuses in their own right.  The one thing they had in common was a total dislike for the establishment in general and the PGA Tour establishment in particular.  It's sad that those arguments cost Americans more chances to see the great man in action, especially since the distraction probably cost Seve 2-3 major championships off what he should have won.

[Tim Martin]

A bit later in his career, Seve started working with Mac O'Grady a bit -- perhaps the oddest couple in the history of golf, though both were geniuses in their own right.  The one thing they had in common was a total dislike for the establishment in general and the PGA Tour establishment in particular.  It's sad that those arguments cost Americans more chances to see the great man in action, especially since the distraction probably cost Seve 2-3 major championships off what he should have won.

Seve was headstrong enough not to be bullied by Deane Beaman and when told he had to play X amount of tournaments to keep his tour card he said no thanks. What a shame he didn`t play more in the U.S. outside of the majors and a few select tournaments. He loved Westchester as his record there showed.

[Matthew Mollica]

I can't find the article now because searches just turn up articles about Seve's death, but maybe 10 or 12 years ago there was a lengthy interview with him in Golf Digest.  My favorite passage (I'm paraphrasing the question, but not Seve's response):

Q:  What do you miss most about playing championship golf?

Seve:  The pressure.

Great stuff.

A good one by Peter Dobereiner for Golf Digest in 1980.

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2008-10/seve101980dobereiner

Jamie Diaz's piece in 1990

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2008-10/seve111990diaz

And another from Diaz in 2005 (I think this is the one you're referring to JL)

http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2008-10/seve042005diaz

This more recent interview, pre-Open last year also contains some good stuff.

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/british-open/2010-07/seve-ballesteros

Vale Seve. Like Bobby Jones and several other greats, such a terrible way to go, and not befitting a champion.

MM

[astavrides]

I suppose everyone has a 'Seve story' here's mine and it's a good one!

Many years ago I was lucky enough to play at Wentworth in the European tour PGA championship. I'd qualified for it through playing well enough in club pro tournaments in my region of the UK but I was really out of my depth at Tour level.
I remember in the first round the rain came down so strongly that they abandoned play for the day, my ball was just over the 14th green and I was left with a nasty short pitch from a downhill lie to a green that sloped away from me back down the hill.
I knew there was a strong possibility of actually hitting it all the way down the slippery slope and back off the front edge of the green if I screwed up.

As the play had been halted for the day, I had all night to think about that nightmare shot and it was still in my mind in the morning as I warmed up. I went to the chipping green and found a similar lie to the shot I would have to play and started practicing it.
I was useless, I just didn't have the required finesse to play that shot, no matter what I tried, the ball just shot miles past the flag I was aiming for.

As luck would have it, Seve was warming up too and dropped some balls close to where I was hitting from.
I stopped and watched him pitch onto the green and of course he had no problem! I watched how he was taking a very long swing and then almost letting the weight of the club just drop down onto the back of the ball.
His clubhead seemed to be actually slowing down as it hit the ball and the ball just popped up quickly and stopped within a few feet of landing.
Even for a pro that's an extremely difficult shot. After yet another ball landed like the proverbial 'butterfly with sore feet' he looked up, saw me watching him, and smiled.

He never said a word but I tried to copy what he was doing and after a few shots I was getting the hang of it. We went back out onto the course for the restart and do you know what, I chipped it in!
I just looked at my caddy and we both burst out laughing - thanks Seve!

I've thought about that moment many times since then and I still wonder if he saw me struggling and came over and came me an impromtu demonstration of how it should be done.  Maybe it was just a co-incedence but either way it was something I'll never forget.

RIP Seve you live on in the hearts of golfers all over the world.

great story.

[Michael Latham]

One of the early Seve Trophies at Druids Glen, Ireland, the fourballs, Olazabal and Seve playing Harrington and McGinley. It was raining that fine, soaking, Irish rain and i was standing with John Paramour at the run out of the drive on I think the 13th, the long curving right par four, (was stroke index 1) round the 'cliff face", over the stream and the water twice, about 460 yards in total.
The Irish pair hit text book drives leaving mid irons to the geren over the water. Olazabal we never saw but wherever it went it was out. Seve's drive clattered the "cliff face" and various trees before coming down into the stream, it appeared, just by the first bridge. From that point to the green was something about 255 yards.
When the players got down to the fairway, inevitably John was called over to call on Seve's ball which was not in the stream, it was on the bank, in the hazard, about 12 inches down from fairway level. I don't know what he asked John for, I stayed up with the two Irish players waiting for the maestro to chip out. From where he was there was no alternative, you cannot see the green, it must have been 50 yards right of the sight line over two water hazards. The debate between player and referee went on and on and the two Irish players started chatting and laughing about whatever "relief" was being asked for. I heard John eventually  say, " Play, Seve", and he moved away. A few more moments of deliberation, an exaggerated wide stance was taken,  knees flexed to the limit, the three wood was passed over, held high in the address, a swing and the ball took off like a rocket, it started to curve and kept curving right, pitched on the front and stopped 30 feet from the pin. Silence reigned. The two Irish players looked at each other, shrugged, as if to say, it was only to be expected.
The crowd erupted, the players began laughing and turned to their shots.
He was a genius.
If I remember he then 3 putted to lose the hole but over the remaining holes he played two other shots that were simply sublime and the Spaniards won the match.
I asked him about that shot at a later meeting and he recalled it . He said it was not so difficult. he never got " relief' and could not remember why he had asked for it.
He was a genius and a lovely man.