Time for Ballesteros to call it a day

GOLF/International Open: Two of Europe's best players, Padraig Harrington and Bernhard Langer, yesterday unequivocally condemned the recent behaviour of Severiano Ballesteros, writes David Davies at The Belfry.

"I think he needs to ask himself, if his son behaved as he has done in the last two weeks, would he be proud of him?" Langer said. "I don't think he would."

The Spaniard, who has meant more to golf on this side of the Atlantic than any other player in recent years, has been casting wild aspersions about witch-hunts and personal vendettas over the past two weeks and seems certain to be disciplined for them.

He has labelled the partnership between the European Tour and the International Management Group a "Mafia" and accused rules officials of persecuting him over slow play.

In his past two events Ballesteros has had furious rows with officials who were only trying to enforce the rules - which are dictated by the players themselves. But the Spaniard seems to believe he is a law unto himself and that special considerations should apply to him.

Last week, in the Italian Open, he was penalised one shot for slow play and his marker duly entered a five on his scorecard. But Ballesteros erased that figure and entered instead a four, on the ground he did not recognise the penalty and that was the number of strokes he had actually played. It was, of course, a disqualification offence, and it was after he had been sent packing he raged on about vendettas.

Yesterday, on the eve of the last International Open here, Harrington and Langer attempted to bring common sense and perspective to the situation.

"Seve has been, and should continue to be, an example for the younger guys," the German said. "I tell my kids, okay, here's the line, stay in the boundaries and there is no problem. Go over the line and there will be consequences. That's the only way to live life. I think he has crossed that line. Seve broke the rules. He altered his card and that's a serious breach."

Langer is a member of the tournament committee, which has the power to summarily punish Ballesteros, but it seems certain, if it decides to fine him, he will not pay. That will bring about the possibility of Ballesteros being banned from the tour, which is a nightmare situation.

But Langer added: "There is no reason to act the way he has acted. We have rules and we must obey them, otherwise you have 150 guys out there all arguing about the rules and where would you end up?"

In fact Ballesteros appears to be metamorphosing into a combination of English cricketer WG Grace and former British Prime Minister Edward Heath, an unholy alliance if ever there was one. He used to be quick. He also used to be good, and now he is neither. In fact he has become painfully slow and embarrassingly bad and there are many who would love to see him retire, leaving behind only the glorious memories. Instead he lingers on, and, with a touch of the Edwards, has engaged in a permanent sulk. He is trying to deny the inevitable and is blaming everything and everyone for his failure.

One of his excuses, in the Spanish Open two weeks ago, brought to mind the good doctor Grace, who once refused to be given out on the grounds that the crowd had come to watch him play cricket, not watch the umpire umpire.

Ballesteros suggested that because he was a big star he should be allowed all the time he needed to make the cut and if he was miles behind the group in front, then so what. The spectators had come to see him play, not officials officiate.

There is more than a hint of paranoia in his attitudes but he has to be made to realise that neither he nor anyone else is above either the rules of golf, or of the game itself.

That point was emphasised yesterday by Paul McGinley, the Ryder Cup player and holer of the winning putt in September. "If you get penalised for slow play," he said, "you've got to hold your hands up and say 'Okay, I was out of order, I did it wrong, I took too much time'. Everybody has got to stand up to their responsibility of playing a bit quicker." Harrington agreed. "Seve is a hero without a doubt," he said. "But why is he fighting with everybody? There's hardly a player in the world who would not give an arm for his career. But it seems he is trying to prove something every week when he doesn't have to. Why doesn't he just bask in the glory? He's done so much."

Eight months ago Langer was starring in the Ryder Cup here and yesterday he confirmed his interest in captaining the team at some point. He has not put his name forward officially for either of the next two teams and is not sure if he has another match in him as a player.

Domestic considerations also apply. If his daughter goes off to college in what would be the week of the match, he would want to be with the family. "I would hate to miss that day when she leaves home for the first time and takes all her stuff to college. I would like to be there for her."