The fact that Seve Ballesteros, having been born in Pedreña, is one of the golfers most admired by British fans is a phenomenon that is no less fascinating because it is known. A walk through St. Andrews (Scotland), the cradle of golf that hosts the 150th edition of the British Open from today, gives a good account of this.
Seve Ballesteros, statements
Starting with David Cannon, the photographer behind the Cantabrian’s most famous snapshot: his fist raised and that captivating smile after he holed the putt that gave him victory on the Old Course in 1984, the second of the three he got (in addition to that, in 1979 and 1988).
“Seve is my favorite sports icon in all of history. Number one. The photo I took of him in 1984 is the best moment of my career and probably one of the most special in the history of the Open”, tells AS Cannon, who still gets “goosebumps” when he remembers it, and that believes that Ballesteros “is considered a God in the British Isles.”
He, who has covered the World Cup or the Olympic Games and has portrayed many sporting giants, is touched when speaking of Spanish: “It means a lot to me.” If he were still with us, he assures him, “this week he would be massively acclaimed.”
“His legacy here cannot be quantified,” he says. The next stop is at the St. Andrews Golf Company, a workshop that has been manufacturing equipment by hand since 1881 and drinks from the technique of Tom Stewart, the favorite craftsman of Bobby Jones, and George Nicoll.
Now the business is run by Hamish Steedman, who places Seve as “an icon” of this town and “all over the world” “What captivated the British public was his adventurous spirit, his ambition and his personality.
We fell in love with it”, he says between sets of clubs with walnut wood rods, authentic jewels. Right next door, on Golf Place, the road that leads to the St. Andrews clubhouse, is Auchterlonies, a store founded in 1895 by Willie Auchterlonie, who won the 1893 Open.
Bobby Millar, one of the veteran employees, vividly remembers Seve’s last putt in ’84. For him it was “the most memorable edition”. “It wasn’t just golf, it was also his personality. All human beings should be like him”, he concludes.
In the heaven of St. Andrews, where the Tom Morrises (father and son) are God and Jesus Christ, Seve is one of the most distinguished apostles.
