Ballesteros

SOUTHPORT, England -- Seeking the crowning glory to his recent comeback, Seve Ballesteros weaved his way through the wind-swept sand dunes of Royal Birkdale until a finishing surge carried him into the first-round lead yesterday at the 120th British Open.With a steady 25-mph wind blowing off the adjacent Irish Sea, the 34-year-old Spaniard played with a consummate control that never has been the hallmark of his game, particularly in recent years.But on the final two holes, the swashbuckler in Ballesteros took over as he eagled the par-5 17th and made a 45-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a round of 4-under-par 66.It was one better than the 67s shot by Santiago Luna, also of Spain, Martin Gates of England and Chip Beck of the United States.

HARRISON, N.Y. -- While golf's great international stars faded and failed in the stretch run yesterday, Billy Andrade siezed command and went on to his second consecutive PGA Tour victory."

Seve Ballesteros tossed away a two-stroke lead, then won the $875,000 British PGA championship in Virginia Water, England, on the first playoff hole yesterday.The Spaniard edged Scotsman Colin Montgomerie for his first victory this year on the European Tour. He collected $145,000, winning the PGA event for the second time.Montgomerie got into the playoff with birdies on the last two holes to complete a final round of 67. He was in the clubhouse as Ballesteros put his tee shot on the 17th behind a tree on the way to a bogey-6 that dropped him a shot back.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- He crossed the fairways to uninterrupted applause, the galleries as thrilled as ever to see him, the Spaniard with the Pepsodent smile and magical game. It has been this way at the Masters, or at any tournament actually, for more than a decade now. The only difference yesterday was the middling score on the board. Looks like another lost week for Seve Ballesteros.It is all a little hard to believe, this. Ballesteros' legend is safe if he never wins another tournament, but at issue suddenly is how often he will indeed win again, if ever -- a startling question to ask about a golfer considered the world's best just two years ago.He is only 33, an age at which many golfers just begin to discover their potency, but he was an Amadeus who began winning tournaments 15 years ago, and there are signs that after cramming the substance of a long career into a decade, he is losing that palpable fire that has made him so identifiable, successful, the most charismatic golfer since Arnold Palmer.

SPRING HAS always been the most depressing time of year, as it signals the beginning of the golf season.All over my neighborhood, men in bright green pants and canary yellow sweaters are loading huge golf bags into the trunks of their cars and heading off to courses with names like Twin Lakes and Dripping Moss and so on.I watch them in the first gray light of dawn, their eyes reddened from lack of sleep, their hands trembling from 27 cups of coffee, gobbling...