Ballesteros decides to bow out

GOLF:Retirement, when it came, was unfussy for golf's most charismatic exponent. Yesterday, Seve Ballesteros - the iconic figure who made Europe a force - called it a day as a player. There was no symbolic return to the Swilken Bridge, à la Palmer or Nicklaus, for his British Open farewell, or any posturing with the claret jug.

Instead, the Spaniard, a three-time British Open champion, chose Carnoustie, where he first played in the British Open as a teenager in 1975 (missed the cut), to announce the end of an era.

It was a revelation that, in truth, didn't shock. And perhaps it was overdue; he has struggled with back problems in recent years and became just a shadow of the player who captivated fans the world over.

Ballesteros, who turned 50 last April, won 87 tournaments worldwide (including 50 on the European Tour), and he will now concentrate on his course-design business. He also intends to diversify into motivational speaking.

"It's just I don't have the desire. I'm not willing to give things away," he explained yesterday.

"You have to remember that I gave away all my teenage years, worked really hard from morning to night and put all my energy and my effort into the game. I focused one-hundred per cent, and I thought, 'That's enough'."

Ballesteros's last competitive appearance had been on the Champions Tour in the US in May, where he finished last in a tournament in Birmingham, Alabama.

His official retirement from the sport he loved and made others love came less than a week after he had to issue a statement denying reports he had attempted suicide.

Had those reports hurt?

"Well, because it was not the truth, it is already well behind me," he said

"The rumours had nothing to do with this decision, which I made after the trip I made from America. That tournament (in Alabama) made me think very deeply, and to question whether to continue or to stop playing. And I made probably the most difficult decision of my career and I decided to retire."

Those reports of an attempted suicide, which emanated from Spain, came after Ballesteros was admitted to hospital. The reality is he attended hospital for two hours suffering from arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat.

"I felt some tension in my chest . . . I think as a human being we all go to hospital, it happens from time to time."

Ballesteros, who will captain the Continental Europe side for the Seve Trophy at The Heritage in Co Laois in September, made his British Open debut at Carnoustie in 1975, but three days before the tournament he cut his right foot.

"I was limping, missed the cut and don't have good memories because of that," he recalled.

There were to be better days, though. He won his first claret jug at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 1979 and repeated the feat there in 1988, while he also won at St Andrews in 1984.

And it was Ballesteros who led the European charge on the Masters, winning in 1980 and 1983, as well as being the player who inspired Europe in countless Ryder Cups and turned the event from a one-sided contest and showcase for the US into one of the great sporting occasions.

"That's one of the legacies, one of the things I'm leaving behind me," said Ballesteros.

Legend's Roll of Honour

Total tournament wins:87

European Tour:50 (including three British Opens and two US Masters)

Special events:7 (including five World Matchplay tournaments)

PGA Tour:4 (plus Majors)

Other events:26

Won the Harry Vardon Trophy for topping the European Tour order of merit in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1991

European Golfer of the Year in 1986, 1988, 1991

Elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1997

Last win came at the Spanish Open in May, 1995

Last Top-10: Joint 10th in Dubai Desert Classic in March 1998