Tilting At Windmills

Filed in archive Golf News on April 18, 2007

Courtesy: BBC

Three British Open titles and two Masters wins. That's a superb golf career by even the highest of standards.

To win twice on the treacherous Augusta National at the peak of its powers and take victory three times on windswept courses in the U.K. that leave lesser players gasping is no mean feat.

Seve Ballesteros can boast such a record. Don Quixote would be proud.

At one time, the Spaniard was the best in the world with a short game finesse that rewrote the book on how to play from 120 yards in.

But Seve's story is one that begins, "Once upon a time..." It's not certain how his story is going to end.

Apparently, it's not ending yet, although the jury is certainly out on whether the final chapter has yet to be written.

Seve has officially notified the Champions Tour of his intentions to play. He turned 50 on April 9 during the Masters, and within days filed his application.

His first tournament is the Regions Charity Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, next month.

Ah, yes, the 2007 Masters: rounds of 86 and 80 and another missed cut at the tournament he won twice.

More than a decade has passed since Seve has made the cut at Augusta.

In recent years, he has been beset by arthritis and knee problems.

His golf game had tanked some years previously.

Seve said after his sad Masters performance that he hadn't played in a month and was way out of tune.

What will next month bring in Birmingham?

There's no doubt the Champions Tour gains by having his name attached to it. That tour will grow and grow as current demographics push more and more superb PGA players over age 50 in the next few years.

But most of them are still capable of playing. One wonders if Seve is.

He will need to work harder than he has ever had to in his career just to keep up.

It's difficult not to compare Seve Ballesteros to Cervantes' fictional hero, Don Quixote de la Mancha, who had become obsessed with fantasies of chivalry.

Quixote set off in search of adventures and ended up tilting at windmills.