Seve Retires - End of era

[JW]

Seve announced his retirement from professional golf today - had a wee tear in the corner of my eye as i read his statement - this guy was in his hey day when i first picked up a club at the age of 16 - me and my mates would marvel at this guys charisma and game, he had the best hands ever. His imagination and nerve were second to none. Over the years he has played some of the most memorable rounds and hit the most amazing shots. The Ryder cup was his yard and boy did he kick some ass - even when he was struggling in his last ones he was a pure inspiration to the other guys.The golf world owes a massive debt to this fella (some will say not as he is a multi millionaire now!). I remember watching him many times and he would always make the fans feel great - he would always make eye contact, smile with the people. One his his greatest skills was to make a shot that was maybe not too hard for him (impossible for most!) look really tough - what a star. Here is his retirement speach

"Five time Major Champion Seve Ballesteros has announced his retirement from golf during an emotion-fuelled press conference at Carnoustie, the site of this week’s Open Championship.

The venue could not have been more appropriate for the 50 year old Spaniard who began his illustrious Open Championship career at the Scottish venue in 1975 before triumphing at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1979, St Andrews in 1984 and at Royal Lytham again in 1988.

George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, led the tributes to Ballesteros, saying: “What a privilege it has been to witness the phenomenal career of Severiano Ballesteros. He is quite probably the most iconic golfer of our era and without question he inspired millions around the world to play the game.

“The European Tour would not be where it is today without Seve’s outstanding contribution as a player and, of course, as a team member and captain of our Ryder Cup Team. We wish him every success as he starts the next chapter of his life and we look forward to continuing to support him.â€

[Jim]

A painful reminder of Buddhist impermance. Seve was/is my total hero, but he's now too old and crap to get round the course.

The mantle of the most beautiful swing in the game now lies with the Big Easy, who I expect to lead the pack home on Sunday evening.

[Wanderlust]

An understandable but still sad decision; one of my Dad's favourite players, mine too, and i think he is and was so popular because he always played a little bit like your average Joe (maybe that should be Jose?) - he would slice and hook drives into the deepest rough, behind trees, bushes or whatever, but then completely unlike your average Joe would produce an unbeleivable shot which ended within inches of the hole. And he would show his joy and frustration as well, and all this endeared him to us Brits in particular I think. Quite simply he was the golfer that we all wanted to be, something that players like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or Jim Furyk don't do.

[redzonerocker]

my favourite too, always played with a smile on his face.
can't believe he's only 50 though, seems like he's been around forever!

[JW]

Got to agree the Mr Els is probably the best swinger out there, and a real good guy also, would love to see him win on Sunday.
I have a sneaky suspicion that Luke Donald may have a good week - he is very straight and has had some nice results the last few weeks.
We are running a sweep in JWs - pick 5 players and the entrant with the most money won by his choosen players wins the pot. 200baht in. Winner took 6k last time. Entries in the bar, must be before first tee off Thursday.

[housedoctor]

Lads , You some of you did'nt do your homework. A couple of points. In relation to Seve. With the exception of Jim's rather strange comments(too old & crap) you all have it perfect. Which is precicesly what Seve was.Perfect. What an inspiration,both on & off the course. What some uninformed dont seem to accept is that Seve is not enjoying enjoying the best of health. Anyone interested who follows the the tour will be aware of this. So obviously Jim you are either having the crack or you dont know what you are talking about.Equally, Ernie is in a class of his own. Secondly, The Open. With regard to your sweep JW, I'm raging I was'nt around. (I dont get back to HH till Sat) so I could not have a bet. I do'nt know what won your sweep but I think I might have had a shout. But getting back to my 'homework' comment, if I had the opportunity I certainly would have had a few bob on Padraig. Coming into the Open, 10th in the world rankings, fresh from a win in the Irish PGA Championship & Winner of the Irish Open he certainly appeared to me to be a man in form. In honesty, given the quality of the field in the Open I was quite frugal in my bet for Padraig to win out, but I did have him E/W & cleaned up with him to finish best of the Irish + best of the Europeans, but me little banker was , Rory Mc Illroy to win the Silver medal.Watch out for Rory, believe me, he's going to to be a good one.What a week for the Paddys. Most importantly,what a great week for the Europeans. Watch out Yanks. The next time you get the Ryder Cup will be in your dreams. Despite Faldos comments [quote, from press conference prior to Open, July 16th] that European players are "too chummy" with each other & earning too much money from mediocre performances to win a major to be truly competitive at the majors! I think the Euro's did pretty well. A little premature maybe Nick ? Alltough I suppose the mind game's have to start somewhere viz a viz Ryder Cup. [/quote]