Smiles in the sadness

In a sad week for golf, Rob Lee says his memories of Seve Ballesteros will always make him happy.

Golf goes on, but will never forget a legend

This has been a very sad week for the world of golf, but I must admit my memories of Seve Ballesteros will always make me smile. There has a been a dreadful sadness since the world learned of his death at the tender age of 54, but over the last few days I have reflected on the times I spent in his company and those memories are entirely positive. Those memories have made me smile. The last few years have been difficult for everybody who knew him because we knew what was coming. He was very, very ill and it never looked like he'd be able to recover, but even though we'd prepared for it, the news still came as a shock. However, I have been going over the old times with my friends in the game these past few days and we've all got our own Seve stories. Those tales are full of fondness and laughter; they'd make a great book one day! I don't think I've ever met anybody with as much charisma as he had; if he walked into a room then he simply couldn't be ignored. He had an aura, he had presence and he was magic with a set of golf clubs. He was a one-off. Even people who didn't meet him have their favourite Seve memories. Golf watchers will never forget the sight of him punching the air at St Andrews in 1984. I've got those memories and a thousand more happy ones on top of that. And after the illness he had, I suspect he is in a better place now.

Impact

More than anything, he had an amazing impact on European golf. They say Arnold Palmer sparked the sport in the States, but it was all about Seve over here. Seve was the first guy to prove that a European could take on the Americans and win The Masters. He then showed that Europe could be strong enough to beat the USA in the Ryder Cup. When Europe lost the 1983 tournament at Palm Beach, I suspect he was the only person who thought they could beat the Americans. When the other players were downbeat afterwards he encouraged them to see that tournament as a victory - and vowed to go and beat them next time. In 1985 at the Belfry they did just that. And his legacy will live on; you just have to look at the world rankings - with six European players in the top 10 - for evidence of that. There's no doubt he was a pioneer and there is now talk about the best way to pay tribute to him. The Seve Trophy almost doesn't seem enough now because it's been around for a while and is not a memorial to him. There have been suggestions that the Harry Vardon European Tour logo could be changed to a Seve logo. As the person who has done the most for the European Tour, that would be fitting. The Spanish flag will fly at half mast at Sawgrass this week, which is a nice touch, and there's no doubt that Seve would want his fellow professionals to go out and play. He will be in everybody's thoughts, but the golf will go on and there is a good tournament to look forward to in the States.

Wrong

The Americans like to describe the Players Championship as the "fifth major" and I've always felt that's wrong. This is a very fine golf tournament, but there are only four majors in our sport. Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy won't be at Sawgrass and you wouldn't see the world numbers one and six missing a major, would you? But it's still a fantastic event and this week we will see a strong field gathered on a tremendous golf course with excitement guaranteed right up until the end. Everything can change on the final three holes (the par-five 16th, the evil par-three 17th and the par-four 18th) and it's possible to make up four or five shots on somebody over those holes. It's a huge feather in your cap if you can call yourself the Player's Champion and we've seen a real mix of winners over the years. I recall top names such as Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia winning here, but also Craig Perks, Fred Funk and Stephen Ames. Tim Clark was last year's winner and you get a complete cross-section of professionals succeeding here. It is a very open event because the course doesn't suit anybody in particular. So how do you try to pick a winner? I think you have to look at people playing well, but it's always possible that somebody will fly out of the darkness into the sunlight. The average world ranking for winners on the PGA Tour in 2011 has been somewhere in the hundreds. I'm looking at Adam Scott, who has won here before and performed very well at the Masters, while Zach Johnson could also have a big week. He won at Colonial last May and maybe he hits his peak at this time of year? Sergio Garcia, another former winner, was nicely placed last week before the news of Seve's passing broke at the weekend - and that could not have been easy for him because they'd spent so much time together. He's been playing well and is getting closer again. And then, of course, there's Tiger. He's only won here once in the past and has never dominated at Sawgrass like he has elsewhere. It would be great to see him compete this week. He has taken some time off due to an injury, though you can never entirely trust what is spun out of Camp Woods. You'd have to assume his injury is healed - and of course he won the US Open on one leg a few years ago - so you can never be completely sure what he's capable of. He's slipped down to world number eight, so he needs to start putting in some big performances. ROB'S SKY BET TIPS
I'm going to go for two course-and-distance runners around Sawgrass in Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia. Both have won here before and both are in good form right now. Scott is full of confidence after a good display at the Masters and the long putter seems to be working for him. Meanwhile, Sergio has been getting himself into positions and is now waiting for a four-round run somewhere.