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Ballesteros Named 2010 Honoree of the Memorial Tournament

The Captains Club selected Seve Ballesteros as the 2010 honoree of the Memorial Tournament yesterday. The Captains Club has an unwritten rule of not choosing someone young enough that he or she still has a lot of competitive golf to play.

Tournament host Jack Nicklaus made no secret that the Spaniard's fight with a cancerous brain tumor was behind the selection. Nicklaus called Ballesteros to make it official. "First of all I said, 'Seve, Jack Nicklaus,' and he said, 'It's good to hear your voice,' like he was expecting a call," Nicklaus said. "He sounded great. I told him I'd heard he'd played golf last week and I asked him, 'How'd you play?' And he said, 'I hit a few fairways.' "

Ballesteros' close friend, Jose Maria Olazabal, who was Dublin, Ohio, to play in the Memorial, was happy for the news. "It's a wonderful thing. I think that proves how important he's been for the game of golf around the world, not just in Europe," Olazabal said. "He was a huge figure when he was in his prime all around the world. It's wonderful for him to get this kind of reward, especially at a time like this with what he's going through."

Seve was in his prime during the Ryder Cup matches, and Nicklaus is well aware of the Spaniard's contributions to making that biennial event what it is today. "Seve represents what happened with the Ryder Cup being changed from being a British-U.S. game to a European-U.S. game," Nicklaus said. "He sort of epitomizes what the European tour is, of kids that have come from the caddie ranks, like from Spain, places where before it was an elitists' game, but now has players who have risen to the top and been the heart and soul and spirit of the European Ryder Cup team.

"When he was here in '87 for the Ryder Cup, his leadership of that team - even though Tony Jacklin was the captain - was fantastic. To be able to take him and honor him, it's the right time, he's the right person."

In October, Ballesteros was diagnosed with cancer and has undergone four surgeries to remove and treat a brain tumor. Olazabal said that despite his friend's fight against cancer, "He's doing very well, actually."

Nicklaus said that Ballesteros told him to save a seat for him at the honoree ceremony before the 2010 tournament because, " 'I'll be there.' "

Born in Pedrena, Spain, in 1957, Ballesteros won a record 50 times on the European Tour, including three British Opens. The first European to win the Masters in 1980, he twice took home a green jacket and was the youngest winner at Augusta until Tiger Woods's first victory in 1997.

Pending his health status, the eight-time European Ryder Cup veteran will be returning to Muirfield Village for the first time since the 1987 Ryder Cup was staged here.

Ballesteros turned professional in March 1974 at age 16. In 1976, he burst onto the international scene with a second-place finish in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. He led by two shots after the third round, but a final round 74 left him tied for second with Nicklaus.

Ballesteros played on a rare combination of talent and heart. His intensity and style of play have constantly required high-risk recoveries and clutch putting that drew fans into his corner. His gifts of imagination, touch and determination on the course helped forge one of the best records in golf and become one of Europe's all-time most successful and most popular players.

Ballesteros made emotion and a brilliant short game his best allies on the golf course. His magical touch derives from years of practice. As a boy, he developed his natural motion by hitting rocks on the beaches of Pedrena with a homemade 3-iron. In his prime, nobody was better at scrambling to manufacture low scores. Ballesteros won the Harry Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average on the European PGA Tour six times, powered by his brilliant short game. In 1979, Ballesteros became the first European to win the Open Championship since Frenchman Arnaud Massy took the title at Royal Liverpool in 1907. It would be the beginning of a resurgence of European players.

Ballesteros was at his erratic best in the final round of the 1988 British Open, shooting a 65 that included an 11-hole stretch in which he made two pars, two bogeys, six birdies and an eagle. He worked magic out of the deep rough and performed wizardry around the greens. Ultimately, he closed out Nick Price with a brilliant chip from behind the 18th green that finished inches from the cup. In perhaps the finest putting performance of his career, Ballesteros remarked, "I knew at the time I won the Open in 1988 that I had reached some sort of peak, that it was a round of golf that I would think fondly about for the rest of my life."

While his individual record is exemplary, Ballesteros' legacy will also be noted for his effort pushing golf onto a world stage by moving it onto the European continent and making the Ryder Cup competitive. Nicklaus is credited with stimulating the change in the Ryder Cup to include Europeans, and bolstered by his own 21-12-5 record, Ballesteros is credited with leading the resurgence of the Europeans in the matches. He was the heart and soul of the European team as an eight-time member and was the captain of the victorious 1997 team. In 1987, the Ryder Cup gained prominence when the Europeans came to America and, for the first time, won on American soil at Muirfield Village.

Ballesteros's tenacity, fearlessness and fanatical desire to succeed helped make him one of the greatest match players of all time in numerous events in that format. When Valderrama Golf Club on Spain's Costa del Sol was selected to host the 1997 Ryder Cup - the first time for a mainland European venue - Ballesteros was the prime force and was the captain for the victorious European team. In 1999, Ballesteros was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. He retired at a tearful news conference at Carnoustie before the 2007 British Open.

Seve's Record

Professional Majors: Masters Tournament: 1980, 1983; Open Championship: 1979, 1984, 1988

Other Significant Victories:

PGA Tour: four
1978: Greater Greensboro Open
1983: Westchester Classic
1985: USF
1988: Westchester Classic

PGA European Tour: 45
1976: Dutch Open
1977: French Open, Uniroyal International, Swiss Open
1978: Martini International, German Open, Scandinavian Open, Swiss Open
1979: English Golf Classic
1980: Madrid Open, Martini International, Dutch Open
1981: Scandinavian Open, Spanish Open
1982: Madrid Open, French Open
1983: Sun Alliance PGA Championship, Irish Open, Lancome Trophy
1985: Irish Open, French Open, Sanyo Open, Spanish Open
1986: Dunhill British Masters, Irish Open, Monte Carlo Open, French Open, Dutch Open, Lancome Trophy
1987: Suze Open
1988: Mallorca Open De Baleares, Scandinavian Open, German Open, Lancome Trophy
1989: Madrid Open, Epson Grand Prix, Ebel European Masters-Swiss Open
1990: Open De Baleares
1991: Volvo PGA Championship, Dunhill British Masters
1992: Dubal Desert Classic, Turespana Open De Baleares
1994: Benson
1995: Spanish Open

Other Wins: 16

1977: Japanese Open, Dunlop Phoenix Open (Japan), Otago Classic (New Zealand)
1978: Kenya Open, Japanese Open
1981: Australian PGA Championship, Dunlop Phoenix (Japan)
1984: Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa)
1985: Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa)
1988: Taiheiyo Masters (Japan)
1991: Chunichi Crowns Open (Japan)
1981: World Match Play Championship
1982: World Match Play Championship
1984: World Match Play Championship
1985: World Match Play Championship 1991: World Match Play Championship

Other Accomplishments:

Played on eight Ryder Cup teams, winning 22 and a half points from his 37 matches. Was the winning captain of the 1997 Ryder Cup team. First player to reach £1 million, £2 million and £3 million in earnings on the European Tour. Won the European Tour Order of Merit in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1988 and 1991.

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