The Open Championship provided the stage for a number of the greatest triumphs in the incredible career of Seve Ballesteros, with the Spaniard lifting the Claret Jug on three occasions.
Seve Ballesteros became a major champion at The Open Championship back in 1979, winning by three shots at Royal Lytham and St Annes. Within the next decade, he would win the event twice more.
But it was in 1976 where Ballesteros – then just 19 years of age – put the golfing world on notice with his performance at Royal Birkdale.
Certainly, few were left in any doubt that the game had found a potential superstar after Ballesteros took everyone on quite the ride.
How Seve Ballesteros put the golfing world on notice at The Open Championship in 1976
Ballesteros had made his major championship debut at the same event one year earlier. However, he missed the cut at Carnoustie.
The teenager was still one month away from his first victory on the European Tour by the time he arrived at Birkdale in 1976. But he managed to put himself at the top of the leaderboard after each of the first three days in Southport.
With just 18 holes to play, Ballesteros was five under par, two shots clear of Johnny Miller. Englishman Tommy Horton was the only other player who was under par heading into Saturday’s final round.
Ultimately, it would be Miller who clinched the title. The American had finished inside the top three in two of the previous three Open Championships. And he produced a masterful 66 to finish six shots clear of both Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus would win The Open for a third time two years later.
The early brilliance of Seve Ballesteros stunned the Birkdale crowd
Miller’s only dropped shot on Saturday came on the first hole. Ballesteros meanwhile showed everyone what kind of competitor he would go on to become after a nightmare start to his last round.
A double bogey on six and a triple bogey five holes later dashed his hopes of a victory. However, he would finish five under par for his final six holes to join Nicklaus in second place.
Perhaps the most iconic shot came on the last hole, with Ballesteros managing to chip the ball between the bunkers to set up a closing birdie.
That first major win would have to wait. But his performance at Birkdale confirmed that it would simply be a matter of time for Ballesteros.