European Tour
European Union
The European Tour of Golf is Europes tournament besides the US PGA tour.
European Tour
Alfred Dunhill Championship
Match scheduled:
Date: 12-12-2009
Time: from 10:30 until 14:30(GMT)
Vanue: Mpumalanga, South Africa
Day 3 :: European Tour 2009 - Leopard Creek GC
Alfred Dunhill Championship - Second round leaderboard LIVE
Follow live scoring from day two of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek in South Africa.
Lifetime achievement award for Ballesteros
Seve Ballesteros, the most charismatic figure in European Tour golf history, is to be honoured at the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year ceremony on Sunday.
The 51 year old Spanish great, who has been battling a brain tumour since collapsing at Madrid Airport in October last year, will receive the Lifetime Achievement award.The award celebrates those who have made a significant contribution to sport and demonstrable success in their relevant sport throughout their careers.
The youngest of four brothers who are all golf professionals, Ballesteros first made his mark on the world stage when, aged just 19, he was runner-up to Johnny Miller in the 1976 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
A chip-and-run he played between bunkers on the final hole to tie with Jack Nicklaus for second demonstrated a gift for the game that has had few equals.Ballesteros was the youngest ever winner of the European Order of Merit title that season, and it took him just three years to lift the Claret Jug at Royal Lytham.
That was the first of three Open Championships as well as two Masters Tournament titles. No European had triumphed at Augusta until Ballesteros did it in 1980 and it opened the floodgates - Nick Faldo won three times, Bernhard Langer and Jose Maria Olazabal twice and Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam once each.
His influence on The Ryder Cup was just as great. At the suggestion of Nicklaus the contest was changed in 1979 so that players from Europe rather than just Great Britain and Ireland were eligible and Ballesteros made his debut that year.
Nobody displayed more passion for the event and, with Olazabal, Ballesteros formed a truly formidable partnership. In 15 games they won 11 and lost only two.
Ballesteros reigned as World Number One for 61 weeks between 1986 - the year the rankings were introduced - and 1989 and he was an obvious choice as Ryder Cup Captain when the match was taken to Spain for the first time in 1997.He was the dominant personality all week at Valderrama, waking assistant Miguel Angel Jimenez up in the middle of the night with ideas.
Ballesteros got the result he wanted against a side which included Tiger Woods for the first time. Woods was beaten by Italian Costantino Rocca in the singles.
Nobody has entertained golf fans more, and just as Arnold Palmer had "Arnie's Army" to cheer him on so Ballesteros had "Seve's Soldiers".
The messages of support he has received since his collapse have meant an incredible amount to him.He has undergone four operations, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and has made it his goal to be at St Andrews - scene of his greatest win in 1984 - for next year's Open Championship.Ballesteros has even talked of playing in the championship as a thank-you to his fans.
