07seve’s funeral
despite the worldwide fame he achieved through
golf, seve ballesteros never moved away from
pedrena, the spanish village where he grew up. it
was fitting, then, that his hometown was where
family and friends said goodbye to him may 11,
four days after the hall of famer died at age 54 of
brain cancer. ballesteros’ oldest son, Javier, carried an urn containing his father’s ashes at the
head of a procession through pedrena’s streets
to the church, where 400 people attended his
funeral and 1,000 more gathered outside. ballesteros’ ashes later were placed under a magnolia
tree—apropos, given that ballesteros was the first
european masters champion—at the family home.
among the mourners were José maria olazábal,
nick faldo, colin montgomerie, ian woosnam,
sam torrance and miguel angel Jiménez. “it’s
a sad time. we lost someone very special,” said
faldo. “european golf owes seve a great debt. he
was the best frontman we could have dreamed
of.” faldo’s rock-band analogy was an apt description of ballesteros, who energized europe, leading
it into a golden era of success on the world stage.
not surprisingly, faldo was among those seconding padraig harrington’s original suggestion that
the european tour should replace its current logo
with an iconic image of ballesteros. —Bill Fields
denis doyle/getty images
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