Spanish golfing great Severiano Ballesteros has given an interview for the first time since he was diagnosed with having a cancerous brain tumor six months ago – and all he wants to do is get back to a normal life and open his dream golf course.
Ballesteros, the matador of global golf when he burst on to the scene 30 years ago, reflected on his glory days, insisting his was an art more than a sporting skill, and his future after undergoing four operations to remove the growth.
Quoted by the Associated Press from an interview given to the Marca sports daily in Madrid, Ballesteros said:
“My first hope is to recuperate normality. After that, a course in Santander. That has been my dream for a long time. I have always considered myself to be more of an artist than a player. I think I can say that I have done some very special things on the course, things that even today, I don’t think any player has done.â€
According to the report, Ballesteros was looking frail and his weight had fallen to 165 pounds – though that was how much he had weighed when winning the Masters at age 23. He has recently started another round of chemotherapy.
One week short of his 52nd birthday, Marca reported how five-time major winner Seve was, at times, filled with emotion as he talked about life, his passions and how the battle against illness is like trying to win a major, only with much higher stakes.
“This is the most important shot of my life. I’m fighting to win my sixth major. Life has given me a second chance. I’m not called Seve Ballesteros, I’m called Seve Mulligan because I’ve had the luck to be given a mulligan, which in golf is a second chance. I’ve been given the mulligan of my life. The proof is that I’m alive, that I can do things, that I speak, I’m perfectly able to reason.â€
Ballesteros also spoke of his admiration for other sports stars, such as American Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong, who had previously won a battle against cancer, Barcelona football star Lionel Messi and compatriot Rafael Nadal, the world number one tennis player.
What he failed to mention that the respect and awe that other sportsmen and women hold for Seve is probably far greater.
I am very glad to read an update on Seve. His illness was all over the golf news, then, nothing.
His comment re artistry is 100% accurate. He really did “paint a picture” of superb beauty when he played. I have yet to see any of today’s players with the flair that Seve possessed in spades. Tiger is undoubtedly the best golfer that lived. But Seve had the flair that Tiger does not. I am a big Seve fan.
Good Luck
Seve is one of my favorite golfers of all times. Go for broke , hit it to anywhere and from anywhere. I wish him good luck and get well soon. Nice to hear he is still trying to make waves.