Its inclusion in any compilation of iconic sports images of the years would be mandatory.
St Andrews, July 22, 1984. As its 276th blow of the open falls of that year in the hole, there is a smile as wide as the light on the face of severe ballesteros while pumping its fist and then hits the air abruptly hits the air .
Joy and relief around the 18th non -confined green, the outcome of the Pure Theater championship of that year.
It is still one of the great sports snapshots of our time, a stolen moment to be appreciated for eternity.
Ballesteros had already cradled the Claret jug in 1979 in Lytham and would do it again in the same course in 1988. He had also won the Masters in 1980 and 1983.
But nothing he achieved throughout his career felt more significant than that victory in the Golf House. Reverbera almost 41 years later.
Seve Ballesteros hits the air with delight after harassing the winning putt to claim the 1984 open
The legendary Spanish blocks the lips with the Claret Jug for the second time
Ballesteros receives the reception of a hero on the 18th in the previous year after its success
Was it the place? Your struggles in the previous months? The fact that the current champion Tom Watson had delayed to win? Or that majestic celebration? Maybe it was a combination of all those things. The search for the response has been made regularly by the author Kenny Reid, a captivated adolescent in the viewer during that historic afternoon in FIFE.
The result is 'the class touch of the severe class of Ballesteros' a wonderful evocation of the life and career of Spanish that enroll that exciting week.
Beautifully written, the legend of the ballesteros of its humble education in northern Spain reexamine until the moment that famous putt is hidden.
Many writers have tried to capture what made him see him in full fight was so hypnotic. Reid achieves it emphatically.
The notion that Seve was a golf genius is thoroughly examined.
Golf was certainly in the blood. His uncle, Ramon Sota, was the best player in Spain, while all his brothers worked locally as caddies in Real Golf de Pedrena, whose land had been sold by the great -grandfather of Ballesteros.
But Ballesteros was self -taught. He gave him the head of an old iron, took a stick, soaked it in water and attached it to Hosel to create his first club. The skills that one day would be excited to a world audience were learned by hitting pebbles on Pedrena Beach.
“From the age of five, Mozart would compose and play in front of royalty,” writes Reid. “But this nascent golf played majestic golf symphonies in his own head, the beach his score.”
Ballesteros won more European tour events than any other player, but also had his struggles
In addition to three open titles, Ballesteros also won the Masters twice, in 1980 (above) and 1983
The fruits of these works were not initially close. Ballesteros fought after becoming a professional in the mid -70s.
The cut was lost in his first open in Carnoustie in 1975, which Watson won. He briefly maintained the leadership in Birkdale the following year, just for Johnny Miller to take the glory.
However, Seve's exhibition in Southport was enough for people to stop and realize this remarkable and unique talent.
“From his appearance, to his own harvest technique, to his ability, to his simple elegant style, men, women and children were passed out,” says Reid.
'He shared all our defects inside and outside the golf course, but everything seemed to come from the heart.
'Fascinated and enraged by turn. Caused elevation and anguish. Seve was human.
'He was able to shoot each golfer's dreams. And many shots that nobody had dared to imagine.
'He played heads and clubs of clubs and grips as the best artisans of a Spanish people who specialize in leather or ceramic. He handled his sticks as precious objects.
Ballesteros had been well located in the first five at the end of the first three rounds
Fans were attracted to Seve, since their struggles outside the field seemed to make it more human
The relationship of love and hate of Ballesteros with the United States is also exposed, and explains his love for the Ryder Cup.
'At the beginning of his career, he heard comments on the locker room about him who approached the Atlantic to loot the portfolios of the players on the PGA tour. He took these desales personally, 'adds Reid. “I could cut the crowds just when it completely detest some of its players.”
His European contemporaries of those days also retire in the book.
“Nick Faldo won more specialties (six), but the difference between the two is the difference between a perfectly emulated factory wall and a work by Velázquez,” says Reid.
We remember the fair epic of Spanish with the Great Watson, his battle in the US Open in Oakmont in 1983 (catched by Larry Nelson), which gives context to what was going to develop the following year.
A good player in his own right, Reid's love story with golf in a changing United Kingdom is endearing.
“Place a wet scottish golf bag around a golf course in the 1970s was probably what felt to get rid of a corpse, 18 times,” he says.
Ballesteros kept the Ryder Cup in 1997 and the event seemed to take advantage of its passion
His fixation with ballesteros and the theories behind his lasting legacy 13 years after his death are what makes the book so convincing.
“For the legions of Juniors, the attributes of strength, skill and Ballesteros adventure should aspire to a golf matrix that no one had considered.”
Reid to Pedrena's trip to connect with the birthplace of his idol gives the authenticity of the book, while allowing the author to venture what made this star shine more than others.
'He created stories with tension, drama, without a clear end … part of the art of Seve was imperfection. Winning becomes bored.
“His golf seemed without spending on the details, the detail of how to do the course conventionally and the notion that one had to be on the street and in the green in the regulation to write down well.”
After having detailed the background history, the Reide story of the 84 Open makes the reader feel as if he had returned in time.
It is easy to forget that there were few expectations that the triumphant Spanish. It was in bad shape and had not finished among the top five of an open from Lytham.
Seve's Swashbuckling style captured the imagination of golf fans in the late 70s and 80s
His delight smile and punch in 1984 are among the most durable images of Seve
The newspapers were filled with predictions from Watson, Greg Norman or Bernhard Langer emerging.
“Seve's jet black hair stirred in the breeze,” recalls the author of his first sighting on Thursday.
'Its tanned characteristics stroked by the Scottish elements of the season, the wind and the sun. Slacks of light gray, black sweater, dark golf shirt, it was not one for striped or vertiginous checks and checks. Little distorted the message of its beauty and grace.
Norman led after the first round, but they had Scot Bill Longmuir and Americans Peter Jacobsen for company.
Ian Baker-Finch then made his movement, leading after the second round only for Watson to join the top of the classification table on Saturday night.
As the Australian challenge vanished in the final round, Langer, Watson and Ballesteros took the stage.
Playing in the penultimate group, a brilliant pair for the Spanish in the 17th treacherous, Hole Road Hole, came moments before the second of the Americans left him needing a miracle.
The supporters of the old course rugen with delight while Ballesteros makes their winning putt
Two shots later, Ballesteros stopped on his putt from right to left on the 18th with his destination in his own hands.
“Our stand broke out in the joy in panic,” Reid recalled at the time the ball dripped in the hole.
'The whole structure changed tectonically when some roared in Ballesteros, while others were encouraged to each other.
'Some hugged and some sought validation of what they had just witnessed, glazed in an elixir of disbelief and amaze part of me. '
Kenny Reid's Seve Ballesteros class touch is presented by Pitch Publishing.