Old soldier refuses to just fade away

It's sad when the mighty fall, and even worse when they realise it.

There was a time when merely walking in through the gates of the Royal Lytham & St Annes club would be sufficient to give Seve Ballesteros a feeling of invincibility - as he demonstrated in winning two British Open titles here, in 1979 and again in 1988 - but, these days, he has the haunted look of a man who knows that his best is behind him.

Of course he is back again this week, but nobody - not even himself - expects him to win.

Ballesteros hasn't won a tournament since the Spanish Open in 1995 and his season has been a litany of missed cut after missed cut.

After missing yet another cut in the Scottish Open, he arrived here on Saturday and, rather than play a few holes himself, he opted to caddie for his 10-year-old son Javier.

Old memories flooded back. "I remembered some of the shots that I produced in the past and was telling Javier where I was and how I played the shots ... it was a special moment," he said.

The magic has clearly gone from his game, and the old spark only returns when he talks of how he is instilling a love of golf into his young son.

"He asked me how many rules in golf. I said, '34'. Then he asked me which is number one, and I told him 'number one is to play the ball where it lies'. Then I told him to just play natural, to play by instinct. That is the best way."

Perhaps Seve should listen to some of his own advice. Few players spend as much time on the range as the Spaniard, who is constantly looking to regain his old flair, and maybe the time has come to let instinct take over.

As things stand now, though, the aura of invincibility is well and truly gone - and he knows it better than anyone.

Yesterday, he was asked if he thought he could still win. "It's very difficult, because I don't really have the confidence," he replied, "but I continue to have faith . . . it is free, you don't get charged for that. But I have so many good memories. I have no regrets."

One of those memories is of his win in 1988. Ballesteros was playing so badly in practice on the eve of the championship that he walked in off the course after six holes. He started the first round with three birdies in three holes.

"That is the interesting thing about this game. Sometimes you nearly believe that you are God, and then all of sudden you feel useless.

" That is the way it is. This is the game of humbled people. And if you are not humble, the game will show you how to be humble sooner or later."

Ballesteros is unlikely to lead the European challenge on this occasion, but he believes that fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia is capable of taking over his mantle. "I think Sergio has the potential to win; but one thing is to have the potential to win, and another thing is to win," he said.

However, Ballesteros also regretted the fact that Garcia had chosen to base himself on the US Tour rather than the European Tour while accepting that "to become a better player and develop his game, maybe America is a better place".

Yesterday, Garcia played a practice round in the company of Jesper Parnevik while, immediately ahead of them, Padraig Harrington - one of five Irish players in the field, along with Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Des Smyth and Michael Hoey - played on his own in reacquainting himself with a course where he made his British Open debut in 1996, finishing tied-18th.

Those who did play some holes yesterday did so in beautiful sunshine with only a hint of a breeze, but the forecast for the next few days is for stronger winds and rain.

All this should ensure that the rough, described by 1996 champion Tom Lehman as "tough but fair", should come into play during the championship.

Meanwhile, Paul Azinger yesterday became the latest American player to defect. He has been battling with flu-like symptoms for four days and finally decided to withdraw from the championship rather than make the trip.