News
SEVE IS 'GRAVELY ILL'
Seve Ballesteros
Seve Ballesteros who collapsed at Madrid's Barajas Airport last Friday, is a much sicker man than it was initially believed.
Indeed latest reports describe him as being so "gravely ill" that his Family have been summoned to La Paz hospital and a full medical bulletin is expected to be issued on Saturday.
The legendary 51-year-old Spaniard, a five-time major winner and without question mainland Europe's greatest ever golfer, was originally reported to be recovering well after fainting and briefly losing consciousness when he landed in Madrid last Friday.
In his day, a Ryder Cup winning king-pin, both as a player and a captain, he has been in an intensive care unit undergoing a series of tests since then and while he is now conscious, according to a report on The Telegraph website, doctors are said to have detected "a grave illness" after scans on his brain.
In recent years Ballesteros has been plagued by ill health and injury, initially with his back, and although he officially retired in 2007, he has still attempted to play in a few tournaments here and there, sadly, for a player of the extraordinary ability he possessed when he was in his prime, with very little success.
He was married to Carmen Botín, a daughter of the banking family that owns Banco Santander, and they had three children, but the couple are now divorced.
Earlier, when it was believed that his collapse at Barajas Airport was not serious, Ballesteros made a point of posting a big thank you to his many concerned supporters on his website and advising them that he was well on the way to recovery.
Ballesteros, who this year was officially named Spanish Sportsman of the Century, comes from a passionate golfing family in Pedreña, across the estuary from the port of Santander, in northern Spain.
Their humble origins, however, meant that as a youngster he could only play the local course at night. During the day he practiced on the beach.
But he rose way above his early station in life to become one of the 20th Century's greatest golfers, his superb escapist skills and great charisma making him one of the most popular and famous golfers of his time.
In 1999, Ballesteros, who won the Masters twice and the Open Championship three times, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame where he joined other greats such as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
He was instrumental in introducing the Seve Trophy in 2000, a team competition similar to the Ryder Cup which pitted a team from Great Britain and Ireland against one from continental Europe and in 2000, Ballesteros was ranked as the 16th greatest golfer of all time by the respected Golf Digest magazine; the magazine also ranking him the top golfer from the continent of Europe.
