Golf Central

Whether he was stuck in a bush, marooned in a car park or two down with three to play, there was no shot too tough for Seve. Here are five incidents that sum up the great man...

1. 1989 US Open, Oak Hill.
After lashing one wildly off the tee of the 600-yard, par five 13th, Seve found himself in the woods. The only way out was through a four foot by seven foot corridor at a 135 degree angle to the fairway. Where most golfers would have taken their medicine and punched out, Seve took out his three-wood, leathered one that flew low through the gap, raised skywards on exit, turned the required 135 degrees and finished 260 yards up the fairway.

2. 1980 US Masters, Augusta.
A customary heel-hook off the fifth tee saw his ball come to rest on the upslope of the sixth. A towering, blind wedge found the fairway and he scrambled for par en route to a 68 and cantered on to become the first European to win a major in America since 1907. 'I doubt if anyone has ever been there on the history of the Masters,' said playing partner David Graham, 'and managed to make par.'

3. 1993. European Masters, Crans-sur-Sierre.
It's the 72nd and final hole and, needing a birdie to have a chance of winning, he's hooked his drive so badly that it's landed within spitting distance of a six-foot wall. Ignoring his caddy's advice to chip out sideways, he sized it up and lifted a wedge that travelled vertically over the wall, under some overhanging branches and went onto clear a swimming pool, a row of marquees, two more trees and two greenside bunkers before landing on the fringe. He casually strolled over and knocked in the birdie to finish second.

4. 1995 Ryder Cup, Oak Hill.
It's a fitting tribute to the place he occupies in our hearts that a heroic loss merits inclusion. Driving like a 24-handicap butcher from Burnley in his singles match with Tom Lehman - his last act as a Ryder Cup player - he didn't find a single fairway on the front nine, yet somehow had a putt on the 12th to go all-square. "Take any other player and put him in the positions Seve went and I'd have beaten him 8&7," said Lehman after winning 4&3, "I think I learned more from him about tenacity than in any other round in my life."

5. 2006 Open Championship, Hoylake.
Seve's first appearance at an Open since 2001 was, although he didn't know it at the time, also his last. After a nervy bogey on the first, he made five straight pars, and with his son on the bag, unleashed a back-nine of vintage proportions starting with birdies at nine and ten. Carved drives, soaring approaches and clutch putts turned the air sepia, and when he made scrambling pars at 17 and 18 to card a 74, the Scouse crowd went bananas.

. To win Seve Icon wedges and a putter, click HERE
. To see Seve's greatest moments gallery, click HERE
. To see our video tributes to Seve, click HERE