Following are some of the tributes to golfing great and five-times major winner Seve Ballesteros, who died on Saturday after a long battle with cancer.
World number one Lee Westwood via Twitter:
"It's a sad day, lost an inspiration, genius, role model, hero and friend. Seve made European golf what it is today. RIP Seve."
European Tour Chief Executive George O'Grady via European Tour statement:
"This is such a very sad day for all who love golf. Seve's unique legacy must be the inspiration he has given to so many to watch, support, and play golf, and finally to fight a cruel illness with equal flair, passion, and fierce determination.
"We have all been so blessed to live in his era. He was the inspiration behind The European Tour."
Four-times major champion Phil Mickelson:
"He's certainly had an impact on the game, but to me the greatest thing about Seve is his flair and his charisma. Because of the way he played the game of golf, you were drawn to him.
"You wanted to go watch him play. He had charisma and he kind of had so many shots that it was fun to watch him play."
Davis Love III, the 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup captain:
"He was an icon in the game and somebody that I looked up to. I copied his swing. Everybody wanted to be as exciting and fun and flashy as Seve. Maybe hit a few more fairways, but everybody wanted that style. They wanted to be aggressive and able to play like that."
Dave Musgrove, Seve's caddie for his first major victory at the 1979 British Open:
"Seve was a hard task-master, very hard on his caddies. He was hard on himself as well, though. He was always off to find a battle somewhere.
"If he'd hit a bad shot he never dwelt on it. His shoulders never slumped. If he could see the ball and get a swing on it he'd never worry about it. And if he went in a bunker he looked upon it as an advantage."
Albert Soler, Spain's secretary of state for sport via Spanish radio:
"Spain had little international presence in the 1980s and Severiano, with a few others but mainly him, gave Spain this global presence on the sporting stage. In the golf world there is a lot of tradition in countries like Britain or the United States.
"Here, golf was considered at the time a very, very elitist sport. Severiano Ballesteros managed to make it popular. I am convinced that the large number of Spaniards who play golf today do so because they were inspired by the images of Seve in those days."
Italian golfer and Ryder Cup player Francesco Molinari via Twitter:
"What a terrible news to hear first thing in the morning. Seve was a superhero for all young golfers, played shots only he could see. RIP. Deep deep sadness."
Former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher:
"Every European Tour player today should thank Seve for what they're playing for. America had Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer
"You can't speak too highly of him, Seve was Europe's best ever player."
