European Tour rename annual player prize to Seve Ballesteros Award
Thursday 16 March 2017 17:29, UK
The European Tour has renamed the annual Players’ Player of the Year Award to recognise Seve Ballesteros’ legacy in the sport.
The award is voted for by every European Tour Member at the end of a season, with the player on top now receiving the Seve Ballesteros Award.
Open champion Henrik Stenson will be the first recipient of the award, having claimed his second Race to Dubai title in four seasons to receive the majority of the 2016 vote.
"I am truly honoured to be the first player to receive it after it has been renamed The Seve Ballesteros Award," Stenson said.
"Seve was one of my idols and an icon of the game, which makes it that much more special to receive this from my peers."
Ballesteros won the Open Championship three times in his career and appeared in eight Ryder Cups, before captaining Europe to victory at Valderrama in 1997.
Javier Ballesteros, Seve's eldest child, while present the award to Stenson during this year's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth - the opening event of the European Tour's new Rolex Series.
"It is a huge tribute to our father which will continue to keep his legacy alive," Ballesteros said. "We are thrilled with the idea that the award voted for by the players themselves will be the one that lives on into the future and bears his name.
"Our father grew up and developed as a player on the European Tour and I'm sure he would be thrilled and very proud of such a recognition."
