Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros won nine PGA Tour events during his golf career. Five of those wins came in major tournaments. Although Ballesteros was successful on the PGA Tour, he was even better on the European equivilent. Ballesteros won an all-time record 50 European Tour events between 1976 and 1995. The Spaniard’s success on the European Tour was so great that he won a tournament on the circuit in 17 straight golf seasons.
Ballesteros’ career started in 1974. He was a mere 16-years old when he became a professional golfer in his Spanish homeland. It didn’t take Ballesteros long to become known all around the golf world as he finished second at the 1976 Open Championship. Just three years later, he won his first Open Championship. He went on to win the tournament two more occasions. In 1980, Ballesteros won his first green jacket at Augusta National. His first of two Masters tournaments set two records at the golf event. Ballesteros was the first European to win the Masters along with being the youngest player (23-years old) to be awarded a green jacket.
While he won multiple Open Championships and Masters, Ballesteros was unable to win the PGA’s other two major tournaments. He finished third at the 1987 US Open and fifth at the 1984 PGA Championship. Despite missing out on golf’s holy grail of the Grand Slam, Ballesteros still left a lasting legacy on professional golf.
Ballesteros’s life was cut incredibly short following his golf retirement. In 2008, it was announced Ballesteros had a malignant brain tumour. He went through numerous surgeries and chemotherapy following the announcement of his tumour, but the tumour continued to come back. In May 2011, after years of Ballesteros’ condition deteriorating, he passed away on May 7th.
Ballesteros’ death struck Spanish sports and the world of golf hard. Lee Westwood claimed Ballesteros made European golf into the sporting event it is today. It was high praise from another golf great. Ballesteros’ life and senior playing career may have been cut dramatically short but his legacy lives on as one of the best to ever play on both the European and PGA tours.
Seve Ballesteros’ Major Wins
| Years | Masters | US PGA | U.S. Open | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
| 1980 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| 1983 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| 1984 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
| 1988 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
Masters Wins: 2
During a career that took in five Major wins, Seve Ballesteros was something of a scourge on American golf thanks to the way in which he propelled the European team to some famous Ryder Cup victories. With that in mind, there might well have been a part of the Augusta National membership that didn’t enjoy seeing the Spaniard put on not one but two green jackets during his career. It could’ve been more too, given the manner in which Ballesteros attacked the course during the 1980s. His two wins were interspersed with a fifth place finish, a fourth place, a year in which he was tied-third and two in which he was tied for second.
1980 – The First European Masters Winner
Having won the Open Championship in 1979, Ballesteros entered the 1980 Masters with a swagger. He had made the cut on his first three times of asking, but he knew that no one from Europe had donned a green jacket at that point. A six under par 66 saw him tied for the lead after the first day, then he took it on his own after shooting 69 on the Friday. A 68 on the Saturday meant that he had a seven shot lead heading into the final day, with the Spaniard eyeing the course record. He found the water at both 12 and 13, however, and his lead was soon down to just three, but a birdie at 15 and three pars allowed him to hold on for the win.
1983 – Four Shot Victory on Monday Finish
Seve Ballesteros was one of the best golfers of the 1980s, as shown by his ability to follow up his win three years earlier with another green jacket. He was tied-fourth after shooting a -4 on day one, but rain meant that the Friday was a complete washout. The second round was played across the Saturday and Sunday, amidst fears that the full 72 holes might not be completed. Having shot a 70, Ballesteros then shot a 73 on the Sunday to put him one off the leaders on the final day. He started that in electric form, going birdie-eagle on the first two, then another birdie on the fourth all but secured him the win, finishing four clear of those tied for second.
PGA Championship Wins: None
There are some tournaments that just don’t suit certain players, which is absolutely an argument that you could make for Seve Ballesteros and the PGA Championship. His first experience of it came in 1981 when he ended up tied-33rd, then in his next 12 appearances his best finish was fifth in 1984. It wasn’t really even a fifth that troubled the leaders, with the Spaniard ending up six shots behind eventual winner Lee Trevino. He missed the cut in 1986, ended up tied-tenth in 1987 and then missed the cut again the year after, proving that it just wasn’t for him. Things might have been better if not for persistent back problems during the late 1990s and 2000s.
US Open Wins: None
Just as the PGA Championship wasn’t really for Ballesteros, neither was the the US Open. He ended up tied-16th when he first played in it, then missed the cut in 1979 and was disqualified a year later, which might well have set him up for failure in the competition. Things looked to be on the up when he was tied-forth in 1983 and tied-fifth two years later, whilst the player himself might have been thinking he was about to crack it when he finished in third in 1987. That, though, proved to be his best finish in the tournament, with high-tied finishes and missed cuts all that he could manage in the years that followed for the Spaniard.
Open Championship Wins: 3
If Ballesteros struggled with the two US-based competitions that weren’t the Masters Tournament, the opposite is true of his relationship with the Open Championship. Although he missed the cut when he first played in it in 1975, that was more like the exception that proved the rule and he followed that up a year later with a tied-second performance. It wasn’t so much how well he played that made everyone sit up and take notice so much as it was the fact that he was just 19 at the time. He played the following 13 Opens without missing a cut and winning it three times, with only his back trouble in the 1990s and 2000s causing a drop off for him.
1979 – Sole Under-Par Score at Royal Lytham & St Annes
Having broken into the public consciousness three years earlier with his tied-second finish, Ballesteros entered the 1979 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire believing he had what it took to win it. An opening round of 73 wasn’t ideal, but he followed that up with a 65 to put him on -4 and just two shots off the lead. He remained in that position after a 75 for both him and leader Hale Irwin on the Friday, but Irwin had something of a disaster-class in the final round, shooting 78 and ending up in sixth. Ballesteros, meanwhile, shot 70 for a total of 283 for the week, three shots clear of Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus who tied for second.
1984 – Famous Final Shot Fist-Pump
Good golfers can win the Open Championship, but great ones do so at the home of golf. The 1984 renewal of the competition was held at the Old Course at St Andrews, with the Scottish weather as much of a challenge as the course itself. He was handily placed at the end of day one, sitting two shots off the lead thanks to a three under par 69. A 68 followed, putting him second and three off the lead, then he shot 70 on the Saturday to mean that he was back to two off the leaders. Defending champion Tom Watson was one of them, but he bogeyed 17th as Ballesteros birdied the 18th to claim the win, doing a famous fist-pump that is one of golf’s most defining images.
1988 – Great Fourth Round Seals Two Shot Victory
To win one Open Championship can be a matter of having fortune on your side for a few days of golf. To win two is a sign that you know what you’re doing, whilst to pick up a third puts you in the upper echelons of all-time golfers. Ballesteros’s win in 1988 saw him head back to Royal Lytham & St Annes, leading after the first round thanks to a four under par 67. A 71 on day two saw him slip down to second, whilst a 70 on day three left him there and tied with Nick Faldo. It was the final round that allowed him to take the Claret Jug away from the rest of the field, though, with the Spaniard carding a 65 for a total of 273, or -11, for the week after rain had forced the final day’s play to the Monday for the first time ever.