magic moments - seve swansong (1995)
Seve in action during the 1995 Ryder Cup.
By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent
Tom Lehman v Seve Ballesteros, Oak Hill 1995: Seve Ballesteros breathed new life into the Ryder Cup from the moment America took on Europe rather than just Britain and Ireland in 1979. That was the year of his first Open championship victory. By 1995 Ballesteros had added four more majors and had been a part of three Ryder Cup successes, but although he qualified in fifth place for Oak Hill it was clear that by the week of the match his game was a shadow of its former self. It was written that he "brought with him to Rochester a sore back, an erratic game and the confidence of a right-handed novice borrowing Bob Charles' (left-handed) clubs." Omitted from both sessions of foursomes, Ballesteros was paired in fourballs with quiet man David Gilford, who was to say afterwards that "Seve wanted to win so much that it was infectious. To have him as a partner was very special". They faced Brad Faxon and Peter Jacobsen the first afternoon and won four and three, one of the holes being gifted them when Jacobsen picked up his marker thinking Faxon was in for four, whereas it was actually five. Phil Mickelson and Jay Haas made no such blunders the next day and won three and two, and with the Americans up two points everybody waited to see how captain Bernard Gallacher and opposite number Lanny Wadkins would send out their troops. First up were Ballesteros and Tom Lehman - a debutant, but at 36 a tough cookie who was to become Open champion himself the following year. The Spaniard had been involved in controversy during his cup career, but Lehman recalls: "I just saw it as a thrill more than anything. It was an opportunity to play one of the greatest players ever. "He was not in the best of form, but he was still extremely competitive mentally and he was to make a match out of something that shouldn't have been a match really. "Take any other professional and put him in the positions where Seve went and I would have beaten them eight and seven. But it was sickening how good his short game was." After losing the first when he drove deep into the trees and had to take a penalty drop, Ballesteros chipped in to level on the next and that was the start of a series of remarkable recovery shots that kept him in the match. He did not hit a single fairway on the front nine whereas Lehman was arrow-straight. But there was only one in it as they turned for home. The American won the 11th, but then came an incident on the next green. Lehman made the mistake of tapping his ball into the hole after rolling an 18-footer dead, but Ballesteros said he had wanted his opponent to mark the ball so he could use it to aim at. He was within his rights and the match referee resolved the situation without it creating any bad blood. "Not having played much match play I didn't think," said Lehman. "I played out of turn and I felt I was at fault. "What I had to concentrate on was just playing my game. I didn't think he was going to shoot five under and beat me." And he didn't. When Lehman parred the 15th he had won four and three and Europe were three points down. But the shock was to come - the Americans won only two of the next 10 games and lost the cup. Most of the questions to the pair afterwards were, not surprisingly, about the 12th. Lehman said that Ballesteros had told him: "I'm not trying to play games with you. I just want you to handle it correctly." Ballesteros said: "The crowd thought we were going to have a fight. But I wouldn't fight him - he's a heavyweight and I'm a light-heavyweight." His last words as a Ryder Cup player - he became captain straight afterwards - were these: "I'm sure all the members at Oak Hill are not going to lose any more balls. I cleared all the rough and all the branches." In three games during the week he hit just three fairways. But he had won a point and Europe won by a point.
