Seve finds magic when it matters

FROM THE ARCHIVE 1985 IRISH OPEN:June 24th 1985: Dermot Gilleecereports on Seve Ballesteros's dramatic play-off victory

SEVERIANO BALLESTEROS, golfing conjurer supreme, produced a magical moment of intensity to regain the Carrolls £150,000 Irish Open Championship at the second hole of a sudden death play-off against the holder, Bernard Langer, at Royal Dublin yesterday.

It was an extraordinary climax, made possible only by a superb course-record 63 from the German and an astonishing late charge by the irrepressible 28-year-old Spaniard.

At the start of play, with Ballesteros a stroke off the lead on one under par and Langer a further three shots back on two over, it seemed unlikely that these giants of the game would eventually be involved in a duel for the title.

But Langer, the leader in the clubhouse on six under par having surged through the field, was forced to put on a brave smile as he watched Ballesteros, on television, draw level with a third successive birdie at the 17th.

There was still hope for the German, however, when his great rival, in the second-last pairing of the day, pushed a three-iron into light rough at the back of the 18th green.

From there, the British Open champion faced a delicate pitch-and-run shot with a wedge, downhill towards the flag. His concentration was broken when two hares ran across the green to the delight of the large gallery.

Aware of the importance of the shot, the Spaniard sat on his golf bag to calm himself for a crucial effort. As it happened, the shot was beautifully executed, leaving him with a tap-in putt for the par four he needed to tie.

And so seven minutes later as the pair headed for the 17th tee and the first play-off hole the excitement of the huge attendance heightened with their every step.

Ideally a clash of this dimension should be decided in an appropriate setting. And, as if by design, the drama followed the desired plot when the 17th was halved in par, Ballesteros being short with a 35-foot birdie putt and Langer sending the ball three feet past the hole from a slightly shorter distance.

Langer must have faced his teeshot on the 18th with considerable confidence in view of his scores of par, par, par, birdie there at the previous four attempts. Ballesteros, on the other hand, had produced far from encouraging figures of 5, 7, 5, 4, on this treacherous hole over his four rounds.

The German hit a perfect four- iron tee shot right of centre, whereas Ballesteros's shot, with the same club, sent the ball more to the left but safely on the fairway.

The Spaniard was first to play his approach and a sweetly cut four-iron finished safely on the back of the green - the first time he had hit the putting surface throughout the championship. Langer hit a six-iron safely onto the front half.

From opposite sides of the hole the putts appeared to be equidistant but, after the tournament director Tony Gray was called to measure them, Langer had the first attempt, from 13 yards. The putt was well-struck with his cross-handed method but finished three feet short of the target.

Ballesteros then faced a putt of 12 yards downhill and with a left-to-right break of about 12 inches for the title. With every roll, the ball moved inexorably towards the target and to a crescendo of cheers it turned at the critical moment and dropped into the hole.

Those who saw the reaction of the Spaniard to his winning birdie putt on the 18th green in the British Open at St Andrew's last year were treated to a variation of the body-language used on that occasion. Instead of punching the air with delight, Ballesteros crouched his body and did a shadow-boxing act of sheer ecstasy, with both hands. No other player in the history of the game has the ability to generate so much excitement.

Meanwhile, Langer was left to ponder whether the gap in class between them had in fact been closed by his victory in the US Masters at Augusta two months ago.

When they met head-to-head in the final of the World Matchplay championship last September Ballesteros also won, by two and one.

The German could, however, look back with some comfort to the Italian Open of two years ago, when he beat Ballesteros and Ken Brown in a play-off for the title.

The glorious sunshine that greeted spectators on their arrival at the Dollymount links yesterday was no more than the Championship deserved after the battering it had taken from the elements over the previous three days.

And from a golfing viewpoint the challenge was brought to precisely the right level for the occasion by a testing south-westerly breeze, which was helping the players on the outward nine.

Langer, because of his moderate placing on the leaderboard, had set out almost 50 minutes ahead of Ballesteros, who had the brilliant young Welshman, Philip Parkin, as his playing partner.

Irish hopes were concentrated firmly on the last pairing of the day, in which Des Smyth partnered another Welshman, Ian Woosnam.

Langer, realising he needed a good start to maintain realistic hopes of keeping his title, set about his work in devastating fashion. He sank a putt of 15 yards for a birdie at the first and then rattled in a 40-footer for an eagle at the second to be one under par for the championship, almost it seemed at a stroke.

From then on he drove the ball with marvellous precision and length and produced iron play of the highest standard to reach the turn in five under. Now enjoying his golf immensely, the German went on to cover the back nine in 33 strokes - three under par - for an amazing round of 63, establishing a new course record.

Yet, remarkably, it was still a stroke higher than the 62 (10 under par) that he produced in the final round when winning the Spanish Open in Valencia last October.

"I enjoyed the sunshine - it was the first day on which I didn't have to wear two sweaters," he said afterwards. "Obviously I knew I needed a good round and after that great start and the tremendous encouragement of the crowd, I felt I could do something special.

"Obviously the three putts I had on the eighth and the 16th were discouraging but the greens today were very difficult to read, particularly near the hole."

Langer climaxed the round with a brilliant birdie putt of 30 feet on the 18th, where he took the advice of his caddie over his own reading of the line and aimed six inches left of the hole with splendid success. It looked as if he had done enough, yet somehow the German was not convinced as he waited a further hour in the clubhouse for Ballesteros to finish.

Ballesteros left his supporters in no doubt about his intentions on the day with a birdie three at the first, where he hit a sand wedge to 25 feet, another birdie at the second, where he chipped to three feet, and a birdie at the third, where a sand-wedge approach finished eight feet from the pin.

Indeed, the sort of luck a player needs to win an important event seemed to be with him when he chipped into the hole for a birdie three at the fifth to be five under par for the championship at that stage.

Three holes later, the Spaniard had gone to six under when he reduced the 509-yard, par-five eighth to a drive and seven iron and then got down with a chip and a putt from off the back of the green.

The short ninth, however, heralded the start of a series of problems for the 1983 champion. He was bunkered there to take a bogey and after reaching the turn in 31, he dropped another shot at the 12th, where he missed the green and then missed a two-and-a-half-foot putt.

Another short putt failed to find the target at the 13th, which he three-putted from 30 feet for a bogey, leaving him only three under for the championship and apparently out of contention at that stage.

With marvellous resolve, however - "I turned to my caddie on the 15th tee and told him we could birdie three of the last four holes" - Ballesteros began to hunt Langer.

A seven-iron to 12 feet brought him a birdie at the 15th; a driver and two putts from 20 feet gave him another birdie at the 16th; and his third birdie in a row came at the 17th, where he sank a 20-footer.

Reflecting afterwards on his performance, he said: "This title was very important to me - it is the second most important event in Europe to the British Open."

He added: "If you must win a tournament in style, then I did it today. I will be back next year to defend."

As for his problems at the 11th, where he was bunkered in two after a magnificent three-wood second shot of 245 yards into the wind, the 12th and 13th, he said: "That was a very difficult time for me. It was even tougher knowing that I still had to try and beat a great champion like Bernhard but I never lost hope."