Sadly, Seve Ballesteros is not expected to make an appearance this week at the British Open.
Mark Garrod, a PA Sport Golf Correspondent, writes that Ballesteros was advised by his doctors not to make what would have been a highly emotional return to
Garrod writes:
The doctors who have been treating Ballesteros, indeed keeping him alive, since the discovery of a brain tumor have advised against "potentially emotional situations."
And nothing would have been more emotional than the reception the 53-year-old was guaranteed on being announced at the start of the four-hole Champions Challenge, part of the celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the first Open.
Let us just hope that there will still be an opportunity for the gallery to show its appreciation for the player who gave more to European golf during his career than any other. Flashing up on the big screens the putt he holed to win at the Old Course in 1984 should do the trick.
Tears flowed during an interview he gave last month. At the time, he was still hoping to make the trip to
"I don't have very good balance because my left leg has lost some feeling," he said. "My left hand is worse. When I have something in the hand, the keys or a glass of water, I don't know if I have it or not. Some of it might come back a little bit, but not like before."
During the conversation, Ballesteros' left arm repeatedly slid off its resting place on his knee and he picked it up with his right hand and put it back in position.
The three-time Open champion has also lost about 75 percent vision in his left eye and his energy levels were down – no surprise, of course, given all the surgeries, all the chemotherapy and all the radiation treatment.
"But I'm getting stronger again," he insisted. "The doctors who saved me, they say that in my treatment I am on the 15th hole. I'm looking forward to finishing this round."
