Old Ballesteros magic gone but never forgotten

The Open Championship: 'Car park champion' returns to scene of first major triumph still hoping to recapture form that once made him feared

Baldomero Javier Ballesteros is 10 years old. He has a handicap of 14 and the priceless asset of having a father called Severiano. On Saturday, Javier not only got to play 10 holes at Royal Lytham with his first full set of clubs but had one of the game's most inspirational players as his caddie.

"It was a very special moment," Seve said. "I was telling Javier how I played this shot and remembering how I produced that shot in the past. I always feel when I come to Lytham it is a very special place because, obviously, I won two times. This is where I had my first victory."

It was in 1979, and golf on this side of the Atlantic was never the same again. As Arnold Palmer popularised golf in the States, so Ballesteros electrified interest in the game in Europe. He had come close at Royal Birkdale three years earlier, frightening the life out of Johnny Miller, before leaving Hale Irwin, Ben Crenshaw and Jack Nicklaus in his glorious wake. He hit only one fairway in the last 36 holes but with daring recoveries and a short game touched with genius he willed himself to victory.

Two US Masters wins followed and, in 1984, another Open at St Andrews. If forced to pick one of his three Opens as the best, that would be it. But he returned to Lytham in 1988 and, with a final round of 65, overtook Nick Price. "That was probably the best round of my career, according to the situation," he said. "Nick Price played very well. When you are leading by two and you shoot 69, you are supposed to win. But I was lucky enough to make some good putts and shot 65 and I won."

Ballesteros returns to Lytham this week a shadow of his former self but still mesmerising spectators and his audience at a press conference yesterday. Prompting him to talk about the '79 Open, when Ballesteros was dubbed the "Car park champion" because he had to get some cars moved before playing his approach to the 16th green in the final round, one interrogator suggested he had been "all over the place".

"All over the place?" Seve queried, his pride bristling at the suggestion. "That sounds a little strong. I was a little bit erratic on certain holes but not all over the place." Then he softened. "I know what you mean. Why can't I score as well now? I don't know. Maybe you can tell me."

Technique is not the first thing Seve talks about to his son. On Sunday evening, Javier was out trying his new ERC driver, one of the modern breed of hi-tech clubs, and insisted that his father paced out his best hit. "It was 175 metres, not bad for a 10-year-old, you know," he said.

No one dared breath the suggestion that Javier might hit more fairways these days than his dad. "Javier has a great swing already and he has a pretty good short game. Once in a while I tell him some fundamentals, how to stand to the ball, about the grip. He asked me how many rules there are in golf and I said 34. He said: 'Which is number one?' I said: 'The number one rule is to play the ball where it lies.' Then just practise and play natural. Play by instinct."

It is all Seve ever knew. While modern youngsters all have perfect swings and play from the mind, Ballesteros played from his soul. Go back to the videos of his victories and there is nothing controlled about his action. He merely thrashed at the ball with all his will and might and it was a thrilling sight.

"When you watch the videos it gives you an inspiration, it helps a little," he said. "Javier keeps telling me he has never seen me win and I try my best and is a pity but that is the way it goes. Perhaps, if it doesn't happen, I will show him the videos from some of my wins and maybe then he'll believe me."

The last of Ballesteros's 88 wins around the world came in the Spanish Open in 1995. This season he has missed 11 cuts in 12 tournaments. The magic around the greens is still there, as is the putting, but, where he used to be long and slightly wayward off the tee, now he is short and woefully crooked.

"Why is he still out there?" people ask, but they cannot stop themselves going out to watch him, just in case this might be the day. Ballesteros feels exactly the same way. "Maybe one of these days things will change," he said. "But if it doesn't happen, it is not the end of the world. I am very grateful to the game and all the people who have really supported me throughout the years.

"The people still support me and I try to be as nice as I can possibly be, to try and show them some good shots and be the best I can. The motivation is because I love the game. The motivation is my family and friends and all my fans. I have not been enjoying my golf lately but I feel a very lucky person for a very simple reason that I won a lot of tournaments. I play for pleasure but obviously it is hard to score when you only hit eight greens in regulation and two or three fairways in a round.

"You know it is tough to keep coming out. It is the lowest point of my career, no question. I don't really have the confidence but maybe things will change in two days. It does not cost very much to have faith. It is free, you know. But again, I have good memories, good moments. There is nothing to regret or to complain.

"When I won in 1988, I was playing really badly. I played only six holes on Wednesday but I birdied the first three holes on Thursday and I was another player. That is the interesting thing about this game. Sometimes you nearly believe you are God out there and all of a sudden you feel useless. That is the way it is. This is the game of humbled people. If you are not humble, the game will show you how to be humble sooner or later."