We're Losing A Giant!

We're losing one on the giants of the game of golf.

Doctors have told Seve Ballesteros he has a brain tumor.
They have said they will not know whether it is malignant or benign until Tuesday. Imagine what kind of wait that must be.

Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros was born in 1957, turned pro at age 16, and was a dominating figure in professional golf during the 70s to the 90s.

He had a style all his own.

Aggressive, risk taking, but always thrilling.

I don't believe there was ever a shot that he wouldn't attempt... from anywhere! With his freewheeling swing he often found himself 'scrambling' to make par.

But that was where he showed us his magic.

He had success more often than not!

He won 5 Major Championships.

The Masters: 1980 and 1983

The British Open: 1979, 1984, 1988

With 6 wins on the US PGA Tour...

and 56 Wins on the European Tour!

"Every generation or so there emerges a golfer who is a little bit better than anybody else. I believe Ballesteros is one of them," Lee Trevino.

His honors included:

• Member, World Golf Hall of Fame

• Named European Player of the Century in 2000

• Named Spanish Sportsman of the Century in 2000

• European Tour scoring leader 6 times

• 8-time member, European Ryder Cup team

• Captain, European team, 1997 Ryder Cup

Seve Ballesteros: "I look into their eyes, shake their hand, pat their back, and wish them luck, but I am thinking, 'I am going to bury you.' "

"When he gets going, it's almost as if Seve is driving a Ferrari and the rest of us are in Chevrolets," Tom Kite.

"Seve plays shots I don't even see in my dreams."

Think of Seve Ballesteros as the Arnold Palmer of Europe: a fiery, charismatic, good-looking, swashbuckling, risk-taking player whose star power elevated the European Tour to new levels, and helped Europe achieve equality - ultimately superiority - in the Ryder Cup.

Creativity, imagination and short-game brilliance were the hallmarks of Ballesteros' game. He might miss the fairway off the tee, but at his best, it rarely hurt him.

He even made birdie after playing from a parking lot during his 1979 British Open win.

In 2000, a Ryder Cup-style event was initiated.

It pits teams representing Continental Europe and Great Britain/Ireland.

It's called The Seve Cup.

There is hope that Ballesteros will live through this crisis. In any event, the memories of what he could do on golf course will survive long after his time to leave this world comes.

Seve, you're in our prayers...