RIP Seve Ballesteros

I woke up this morning to the news that Seve Ballesteros has died of complications of the brain cancer. He was 54.

Seve was the Arnold Palmer of European Golf, a swashbuckling figure who inspired a generation. “Seve made European golf what it is today,” Lee Westwood wrote on Twitter.

A second at the 1976 Open Championship at the age of 19 was Ballesteros’ “Hello World.” He won three years later at the age of 22, making him the youngest to hoist the Claret Jug since the 1800s. He would go on to win the Open Championship three times, and the Masters twice. He also managed—as player and captain—to take five Ryder Cups. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1999.