STORY BEHIND THE PIC

The 1980s was a decade to remember for European golf, especially when it came to the Masters. A green jacket would be placed around the shoulders of a European on five occasions, as players from Spain, West Germany, Scotland and England celebrated victories at Augusta. The trailblazer was, of course, Seve Ballesteros, the Spanish genius who won Europe’s first Masters in 1980 and proved the catalyst for the many triumphs that followed.

Coming off the back of a third-place finish in the Players’ Championship at Sawgrass, Seve arrived at Augusta in good form in April 1980 and was in bullish mood the day before the tournament, his 23rd birthday, saying his game was ‘getting better all the time’ and that he was ‘ready to go’, although he had expressed worries over a niggling back injury.

The reigning Open champion had a point to prove too, his appearances limited on the PGA Tour due to his reluctance to commit fully to America, and the barbed comments of a ‘car park champion’ still ringing in Seve’s ears since his Lytham win.

The bookies had installed Tom Watson as favourite and it was easy to see why. Watson had already won twice that year, and had a good Master pedigree, having won in 1977 and finished runner-up in 1978 and 1979. Ray Floyd, Lee Trevino and defending champion Fuzzy Zoeller, were also hotly tipped.

If there were any doubts surrounding Seve’s fitness, he swiftly put them to bed with a stunning first round 66. Adopting a take a slightly safer path around the course, Seve posted seven birdies in his six-under-par round, with his new strategy involving laying up at the water-guarded par fives and using his superb short game to bag three birdies in the process. “Only one bogey today. You like this new Seve?” he joked after his round. “I used my head more and my muscles a little less.”

Ballesteros was joined at the top of the leaderboard by Australia’s David Graham, then the reigning US PGA champion, and little-known Texan Jeff Mitchell. But it was a disappointing opening day for America’s big guns. Zoeller carded a solid 72; Watson’s 73 involved a paddle in the water at 15, while Nicklaus and Trevino both went round in 74, Floyd hit a 75, and Crenshaw a 76, while Tom Weiskopf ensured he wouldn’t be around for the weekend when taking 13 shots on the par-three 12th on his way to an 85.

The American contingent enjoyed a slightly better day on the Friday. Rex Caldwell’s 66 was the best round of the day, although more notably Watson (69), Zoeller (70), Floyd (70), Crenshaw (70), Trevino (71) and Nicklaus (71), proved that not all was gloom and doom for America’s stars. They were all left trailing in Seve’s wake though. A stunning finish of four birdies in the final six holes helped Ballesteros shoot a 69, for a half-way total of nine-under-par.

Any American hoping for a collapse from Seve during the early stages of round three must have been encouraged, as he only parred two of the opening seven holes, meaning his four-shot lead had been quickly cut to two. His eagle at the eighth restored his lead, and birdies at 13, 14 and 15, stretched his lead further.

A dropped shot at 16 was soon regained at 18, and as the galleries drifted away from Augusta, the green jacket was Seve’s for the taking, with the Spaniard holding a seven-shot lead over American Ed Fiori, with Andy North, Jesse Snead and Newton a further stroke back.

With such an imposing lead, Seve chose his words sensibly before the final round. “I’ll concentrate on playing the course, being careful. They will have to play very well to beat me. I won’t take any silly chances,” he assured the media.

Seve kept his foot to the floor in the early part of his final round Sunday, making birdies at three of the first five holes and reaching the turn with a massive 10-shot lead. It looked like Seve was aiming to beat the 72-hole Masters record of 271, and to beat Nicklaus’ record of a nine-shot winning margin. But the final nine holes of a major are rarely that straightforward, as Seve was to prove.

A three-putt at the 10th was slightly irritating, and when Newton birdied 11, Seve’s lead had been cut to eight. But come holes 12 and 13, Ballesteros was trying his best to inject as much drama into proceedings as possible, finding water on both holes, dropping three shots in the process, and watching on as Newton completed his birdie hat-trick through Amen Corner to cut the lead down to three.

The bad news kept on coming for Seve, as American Gibby Gilbert birdied four holes in a row, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye Seve’s double-digit lead was down to just two. Speaking after the event, Seve didn’t try to hide his state of mind at this time: “Now you are in trouble Seve. Maybe you are going to lose. You must try very hard.” Luckily he listened to his own advice, his birdie at 15 calming his nerves and quashing any hopes of a dramatic comeback by Gilbert or Newton.

Panic over, Seve was able to play the last few holes in relative comfort, his 72 giving him a 13-under -ar total, finally winning by four shots from Gilbert and Newton. As Fuzzy Zoeller presented Seve with his first green jacket, the youngest ever to do so before Tiger Woods in 1997, the world now knew that a star was here to stay, and European golf would never be the same again.