OT - Seve Being Seve......

[Rob Marshall]

His swagger was part of his playing DNA.

Never associated "swagger" with Seve but it's very apt.
I doubt he ever faced a bad lie or obstacle he did not ENJOY trying to pull off.

Seve also ENJOYED embroiling himself in rules confrontations with referees and playing partners in an effort to seek an advantage which is part of the “gamesmanship” he is noted for.

I once played an event where Jerry Stahl was the speaker. Jerry is an Oak Hill member who was a USGA rules official. I'm sure JohnVDB knows him. Anyway he talked about the big three. (Jack, Arnie, and Gary) Told interesting stories about all three in major championships. Jacks story was how he tried to intimidate him into getting good ruling. They ALL did it. After Jerry denied Jack relief, Jack looked at him and winked. Jack knew he was stretching the rules and acknowledged it.

[David Cronan]

Seve was before my time, I only recall watching him a few times. While I can appreciate his swash-buckling schtick, sounds like he really needed to spend more time on the range with woods in hand.     Or perhaps have developed a tiger like 2 iron stinger?

I hear ya, Kalen. I remember watching both Miles Davis and Stevie Ray Vaughan play in person and while I can appreciate their improvisational schticks, if they would have listened to me and hired the right producers (after all, I was in my 5th, 6th and 7th grade school bands playing drums), they could have had a lot more top 10 hits like Britney Spears, the Spice Girls and the Jonas Brothers did…..

[Kalen Braley]

Seve was before my time, I only recall watching him a few times. While I can appreciate his swash-buckling schtick, sounds like he really needed to spend more time on the range with woods in hand.     Or perhaps have developed a tiger like 2 iron stinger?

I hear ya, Kalen. I remember watching both Miles Davis and Stevie Ray Vaughan play in person and while I can appreciate their improvisational schticks, if they would have listened to me and hired the right producers (after all, I was in my 5th, 6th and 7th grade school bands playing drums), they could have had a lot more top 10 hits like Britney Spears, the Spice Girls and the Jonas Brothers did…..

Ha ha, well played David. 

But if Seve wasn't hitting the ball all over the yard into every nook, cranny, and otherwise dark spaces of the course, then it follows he wouldn't need all them crazy recovery shots! 

[Mike_Clayton]

People go on about Seve's driving and he could be crooked at times - and I'm disregarding the period at the end of his career (1995v onwards) when he lost his game.
But he was a much better driver than people gave him credit for - and he hit the best/coolest drives.
Long. Different flights and different shapes depending on the questions the holes and the courses were asking.
Shots very few others were hitting.

[Niall C]

Looking back at the old footage of Seve, and indeed Watson (I've been reliving a lot of memories of the 1984 Open), what stands out for me is the rhythm of the swing, the crispness of the contact and the sound of it. In comparison modern pro's just seem to clobber the ball. That's just my perception and I dare say the real experts will tell me why I'm wrong in that.


My other perception of the 1984 Open final round was that Langer, who was playing with Seve, was playing better golf than either Seve or Watson, but that he basically two putted every green. Not saying that's an absolute fact but my perception was that he hit the fairways, then the greens and lagged the long putts stone dead and some how contrived to miss the makeable ones.


Niall

[David_Tepper]

Seve Ryder Cup highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql8VusszDgY

There are a lot of them!

[Michael Morandi]

In his youth, Seve would take a 3 iron to the beach and try all manner of shots. He was an artist and the golf course was his canvas.
I only got close to him once. He was playing at the Westchester Classic outside NYC  and hit his drive into the rough, where I was standing alongside a very attractive woman. He noticed her and had to collect himself before pulling off another great shot. As he moved on he looked back at her, as any man might have. I believe he wasn’t readily accepted by his wife’s family at first: they were Spanish banking royalty and the patriarch thought his daughter could do better than a professional golfer.  But as we know, he was so much more and inspired generations of great Spanish players and revived the Ryder Cup.

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