When Severiano Ballesteros became a professional golf player in 1974 at the age 16, he began transforming the game in Europe with his masterful creativity and imagination.
On Saturday, at the age of 54, he succumbed to complications related to a brain tumor, according to his official websiteHe won the Masters at 23, leading by 10 shots at one point in the final tournament. He was a three-time champion of the British Open, no moment greater than his 1984 victory at St. Andrews. He was as encouraging in Europe as Arnold Palmer was in America, a attractive figure who feared no shot and often played from where no golfer had ever been.
