It is 09.30 in St AndrewsIt is cold and rainy, the logical thing to do in this charming Scottish town when October is hopelessly approaching. Javier Ballesteros He reaches tee 1 to play his practice round. Accompanies him Carmen, his sister and right eye of Seve, which this week will carry the bag. It is then when one of those moments occurs that remains forever etched in the memory …
Javier is in St Andrews because this Wednesday the premiere of the television series about Seve promoted by the Royal and Ancient and that will be broadcast in Rakuten TV. A David Cannon, the author of the best photos ever taken of Seve, thought it was a good idea to propose to Johan Rupert, promoter of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, to grant an invitation to the eldest son of the genius of Pedreña to play the tournament. Rupert loved the proposal and Javier happily accepted. Will play the tournament as a team with Martin Slumbers, the great chief of the Royal and Ancient.
This morning, in the rain and well equipped with clothes, Javier has set foot for the first time in his life on the Old Course. He had never been, neither on vacation, nor on the way, nor of course to play a tournament. Seve’s blood, clear Cantabrian blood, runs through his veins, so Javier is a tough guy, tough, not a mythomaniac and far from sentimentality. He hadn’t felt the need to be in St Andrews. However, today, before leaving from the 1st tee, he approached the green of the 18th hole, which is to the left, and a chill ran down his back …
Javier has let his imagination fly and has tried to contrast the image that he has seen so many times on television, that of his father raising his arm shouting “I put it in, I put it in” when he won his second Open Championship, with reality. “It has been a very special moment. It’s amazing how everything changes from TV to live. The green has much more drop than it appears in the images. It has been exciting to be there, in the same place where my father always said that he lived the most beautiful moment of his entire career ”, he assures Ten Golf.
The shot on tee 1 has also been stored forever in the folder not to delete. “Being there, with the clubhouse behind, the 18th green on the left, in St Andrews, where there are more golf shops than clothes… it is a tremendously special feeling, it is different from everything. At the start I hit him forward and period… ”, he says. He has played 18 holes, although it was not a normal practice round of a tournament. He has gone with three amateurs, something usual in this classic tournament of the European Tour ProAm format and has done several interviews. The 18th hole was played with a microphone while they were recording a video. “It has not been easy to be focused and I have had some oversights, as in hole 3, that I have thrown at the 15 flag,” he admits amused. Don’t think it’s so strange. The 3rd and the 15th share the green, like many others on the Old Course. “One of the amateurs told me: don’t worry, you are not the first and you are not going to be the last to whom it happens,” he says.
Javier has finished the lap delighted. He gives very good marks to the first round of his life on the Old course. He has not counted them because he never does it in these training rounds, but he has had a good time and has taken very good note of what awaits him this week. “I liked it a lot, I think Carnoustie It’s a better course, but the Old Course is really good. It is not easy from the tee because there are lines that are not very clear, but I have a good idea for the tournament. What has angered me the most is not to birdie 18. I have thrown a putt of five or six meters but it has not entered, “he explains.
Speaking of Carnoustie, he also played it yesterday for the first time and ended up delighted. Take advantage, in addition, to make a claim. “It seemed to me a spectacular campaign. In addition, we were caught by one of those British days, with a lot of water and wind, horizontal rain. It is a wonder of the field and very difficult. The last three holes to finish are brutal. I have remembered Sergio garcia. I am an unconditional fan of his and now there is even more. Those who say they don’t understand how he didn’t make four in 18 when the British ran away with Harrington have no idea. You have to get there. He was unlucky with the putt. Sergio is terrific and I am very sorry that in Spain he is undervalued by some people. He is the best ‘ball-stricker’ of the last twenty years and, furthermore, he is a person who earns a lot from close range ”, he affirms forcefully.
Javier has returned 37 years later to the scene of one of the most legendary moments in golf history and, surely, the climax of his father’s career. He had been to Lytham, Royal Liverpool, Troon, but the Old course was missing. Completed debt, although he never saw it that way. By the way, he highly recommends watching Seve’s documentary. “I think it does my father a lot of justice. It is spectacular and I am convinced that it will like it a lot. I sincerely believe that it cannot be done better ”, he assures.
