Ballesteros loses bout with cancer

AP

Photo

In this May 18, 2007, AP FILE PHOTO, Seve Ballesteros of Spain smiles before teeing off during the Regions Charity Classic at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Hoover, Ala. Ballesteros died early Saturday at his home in Pedrena in northern Spain from complications of a cancerous brain tumor. He was 54.

Associated Press

MADRID

Seve Ballesteros was a genius with a golf club in his hands, an inspiration to everyone who saw him create shots that didn’t seem possible. The Spaniard’s passion and pride revived European golf and made the Ryder Cup one of the game’s most compelling events.

His career was defined not only by what he won, but how he won.

“He was the greatest show on earth,” Nick Faldo said.

Ballesteros, a five-time major champion whose incomparable imagination and fiery personality made him one of the most significant figures in modern golf, died Saturday from complications of a cancerous brain tumor. He was 54.

“Seve was one of the most talented and excited golfers to ever play the game,” Tiger Woods said on Twitter. “His creativity and inventiveness on the golf course may never be surpassed. His death came much too soon.”

A statement on Ballesteros’ website early Saturday said he died peacefully at 2:10 a.m. local time, surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena. It was in this small Spanish town where Ballesteros first wrapped his hands around a crude 3-iron and began inventing shots that he would display on some of golf’s grandest stages.

He won the Masters at 23, leading by 10 shots at one point in the final round. He was a three-time winner of the British Open, no moment greater than his 1984 victory at St. Andrews. He was as inspirational in Europe as Arnold Palmer was in America, a handsome figure who feared no shot and often played from where no golfer had ever been.