Mourners pay last respect to Seve Ballesteros at funeral
Fans, fellow golfers, family and friends of Seve Ballesteros gathered in his home village in northern Spain for a moving funeral. All of them joined in to be a part of a simple moving funeral to pay their final respects to the golfing legend.
The sound of a kilted piper, a cortege of Ballesteros, close family and friends started from their family home all the way over the sea in Predena to the little nearby church of San Pedro. An amazing golfer, Ballesteros passed away early Saturday as he lost
his battle to brain cancer.
Among the big golfing names, there were included close friends of Ballesteros. Jose Maria Olazabal, Bernard Gallacher, Sam Torrance, Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie were all there. All of the aforementioned players had great memories with Ballesteros and
were all Ryder Cup captains at one time.
Ballesteros himself had an amazing Ryder Cup experience as he took part in eight Ryder Cups and captained one of them. The most prominent of his participations was in 1984 when the Europeans won the cup back from Americans the first time since 1957.
Leading the procession was Ballesteros’ son, Javier who was carrying his father’s ashes. The Spaniard himself had chosen a magnolia besides which he wanted his ashes to be scattered. Thousands of people gathered around the church to follow the funeral on
three giant screens.
Entering the village of Pedrena, in the bay of Santander, was a Spanish flag that read Gracias Seve (Thank you Seve) nearby that flag was another flag that hung from the balcony with two golf clubs and cap decorated with a black ribbon.
In memory of his father, Baldomero told the mourners: "Papa, as you can see, Javier, Carmen and me are are strong just like you asked us...for us it's not a day to say goodbye, we know you are by our sides and we will always be by yours."
The player had been diagnosed with brain cancer in 2008. Undergoing four operations for the disease, the player had called it ‘the hardest challenge of my life.’ Seve Ballesteros was an amazing player and still remains an inspiration to all those who admire
him.
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