Los Angeles: Five-times major winner Seve Ballesteros, regarded by many as golf's greatest shot-maker, was one of the most gifted and charismatic players to have graced the game.
The Spaniard, who died at his home in northern Spain yesterday at the age of 54, thrilled fans across the globe with his swashbuckling style, magical touch around the green, creativity and passion for the sport.
After revealing in October 2008 that he had a brain tumour, Ballesteros had four operations before undergoing chemotherapy.
He appeared in public again for the first time in mid-2009 to a standing ovation and only last October seemed in high spirits at a symposium on brain tumours supported by his foundation.
His family announced on Friday that his neurological condition had deteriorated severely.
"Today, at 2.10am Spanish time (12.10am GMT), Seve Ballesteros passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena," they said in a statement on the player's personal website, www.seveballesteros.com.
The final cause of death was respiratory problems, the statement added.
Ballesteros piled up 87 titles worldwide, 50 of them on the European Tour, and his sublime golf skills were more than a match for his erratic driving.
A winner of three British Opens and two Masters titles, he gave the European game a much-needed lift in the late 1970s. Along with Briton Tony Jacklin, he was chiefly responsible for reviving Europe's fortunes in the Ryder Cup.
Father figure
Ballesteros became a father figure for Spanish golf and replaced American Arnold Palmer as the game's most charismatic figure.
From the age of seven, he was using a cut-down three-iron on the beach near his home in Santander and this helped him master the art of the manufactured shot from just off the green for which he became famous.
Ballesteros arrived on the international scene at the 1976 British Open as a 19-year-old with an extraordinary swing which seemed to turn 360 degrees.
That exuberant swing frequently came close to knocking him off his feet with its momentum long after his golf ball was sent soaring into the distance.
Ballesteros did not triumph that week at Royal Birkdale but a hero was clearly born and European golf was back in business as a force to be reckoned with.
In 1979, the gifted Spaniard won the first of his British Open titles at Royal Lytham after conjuring magical rescue shots from all parts of the course. One such recovery earned him the epithet of "Car Park Champion".
American Ben Crenshaw, a double Masters winner, said of Ballesteros: "Seve plays shots I don't even see in my dreams."
Green Jacket
In 1980, Ballesteros won his first green jacket at Augusta National, becoming the first ever European to win the Masters.
Another followed three years later and in 1984 he again lifted the prized British Open claret jug at the home of golf, St Andrews.
In 1988, he claimed his fifth major title in the British Open at Royal Lytham.
Unexpectedly, that was to be his last major success. His slide during the following decade from the pinnacle of the game, despite a brief resurgence in the early 1990s, was tortuous and very public.
His 50th and final European Tour title came, rather appropriately, at the 1995 Spanish Open.
Two years later, though, he was able to celebrate one of the crowning achievements of his career. At Valderrama in Spain, he led Europe to a rousing Ryder Cup victory.
Six years ago, Ballesteros reflected on his glory days as a player: "I have had a wonderful career and I have a wonderful life. The Ballesteros era is over but I was the Tiger of my day."
