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My memories of Seve
Remembering the genius of the charismatic Spaniard
I FIRST met Seve when we played together in a TV match in Japan. We then did some commentary for the BBC and, most recently, he asked me to put in a golf club to auction for his foundation.
A week later I got a lovely letter from him thanking me but, to be honest, being able to do anything to help was an enormous honour and is the sort of thing you never forget.
In person, Seve was incredible. He was brilliant with the galleries on exhibition days and was just as impressive in Major championships. You always knew when he walked into a room, he had an incredible aura about him and you can only truly say that about a handful of people.
When you were at tournaments it didn’t matter who else was on the course you would always go and find Seve first. Better still he played the way I love to play.
I am not saying for one second that I am anywhere near as good as him, but we both loved to go for broke and, if you mess up, then you just try to find a way out.
Sometimes it didn’t come off but we can all recall at least three miracle recoveries that he did pull off and they have been a feature of the news coverage in recent weeks.
I’ve said before that I’m not one for too many technical thoughts, I prefer to play by feel and by trying to mimic players.
When I stand over a certain shot I would picture a particular player – it would be Bernhard Langer for irons and always Seve for chipping.
His full swing was very individual and difficult to copy but his short game was mesmeric.
He and Jack Nicklaus were my two heroes growing up. He was eight years older than me but that was just enough of a gap so when I was starting to play the game he was already established.
We will all miss him greatly.
When I stand over a certain shot I would picture a particular player – it would be Bernhard Langer for irons and always Seve for chipping.
Coming up at the end of this month is the second Major of the year, the LPGA Championship. I have won the LPGA twice and I managed to win it the year before it became a Major – it was then called the McDonald’s Championship so I got to meet the host Ronald. Hence, I actually won it three out of four years. The other year I was second.
Obviously I loved the course, DuPont Country Club, where it used to be held. It really suited my game and it was one of those venues where you think about winning as soon as you get there.
In 1994 I edged out an American, Alice Ritzman, by one and I had to get up and down from a greenside bunker to win. I think I had something like a 10-footer to land my second Major. Two years later I beat another American, Julie Piers, and the winning score was even par. The weather could get a bit cold there and in the pictures I’ve got I’m well wrapped up.
I think the reason my record is so good in this Major – I was in the top seven for seven out of eight years from 1994 onwards – is that the LPGAs are normally held on the hardest courses and traditionally I do better on those.
Having said that my record in the US Open, which is definitely the hardest, is very ordinary. I have had the win but otherwise have rarely been in contention. This year we are at Locust Hill, just outside New York, where I had my last LPGA Tour victory in 2001 so I’ve got some good memories there. I could have won there again but had a bad Sunday a few years back. It’s a course I love.
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