High taxes, rising unemployment, soaring oil prices, but the mid-1970s were much worse than now – there was no satellite television offering escape from the gloom of recession. Yet on the screen then, there were glimpses of a teenage sportsman who defied Mark Twain's famous quote about golf being simply a good walk spoiled. This was a rising young star to liven up the game's staid image with a passion more akin to bullfighting than golf. He worked magic – getting himself into an impossible position but then escaping danger with the sort of winning shot rivals could only dream about. Like conjuring a birdie from the car park at Royal Lytham to win the British Open in 1979.

Only it could no longer be British, because Seve Ballesteros was the first continental player who opened up the borders of professional golf. He rallied Europe and blazed a trail over the new world like a latter day conquistador. He revitalised the Ryder Cup, turning it into a competition rather than just a stroll in the park. He devised the eponymous Seve Trophy pitting Britain and Ireland against the best of Europe.

There is a tangible Irish connection too. Ballesteros co-designed the 18 hole championship course with Jeff Howes at the Heritage Golf and Spa in Killenard. The Co Laois venue is where he was due to appear last week at a new launch of the development, not lying in intensive care in Madrid's La Paz hospital.

The 51-year-old confirmed he was diagnosed with a cerebral tumour last weekend after collapsing at Madrid airport. His ex-wife and children remained at the hospital during his 12-hour operation on Tuesday. In a weekend statement, there was a spark of the defiant Ballesteros of old.

"Throughout my career, I've been one of the best at overcoming obstacles on a golf course and now I want to be the best as I face the most difficult match of my life."

One of his first obstacles as a child was finding the means, and the tools, to play golf. The young Seve played on the beaches near his home, using an old three-iron given to him by his brother. The family was not well-off, but included a number of talented golfers such as uncle Ramon Sota, a four times Spanish professional champion. His older brother Manuel finished in the European Tour order of merit throughout the l970s, and eventually became his younger sibling's manager. In 1974, aged 16, Ballesteros turned professional. Two years later, the handsome guy with the memorable name was up with the big boys such as Jack Nicklaus in The Open championship, coming second behind winner Johnny Miller.

From there on in he blazed a trail, winning five major championships. His 1979 win at the Open Championship made him the youngest winner up to then, also the first European golfer to win a major tournament since 1907. Similar credentials marked his win of the Masters in 1980, aged 23. The undeniable charm masked a fierce competitiveness. "I look into their eyes, shake their hand, pat their back, and wish them luck," he once declared. "But I'm thinking, 'I'm going to bury you.'"

If good looks and attitude were part of the attraction, there was something else – a tendency to lose the rag. While everyone loves a sporting hero, people are even more enthralled by the ones whose passion to win boils over and brings a thrilling edginess to the spectacle. One foolish TV reporter in Augusta had to bleep out the golfer's menacing riposte after mistakenly shouting, "Steve, hey Steve, over here."

Caddies, too, suffered the wrath of their temperamental boss. "What does he want, a caddie or a greengrocer?" asked an exasperated Martin Gray after Ballesteros fired him on being handed an apple that was "too hard". Another caddie described his former boss as being "an evil son of a bitch". There was gamesmanship too. American arch rival Paul Azinger remarked on how coincidental it was that "Seve always develops a cough during the Ryder cup". The adulation of Irish fans was tested when Ballesteros verbally attacked Pádraig Harrington last autumn because the Irishman pulled out of the Seve Trophy.

"When you are the Open champion, sometimes you have to do things you don't really like – you have certainly obligations toward the game. Not just use the game, take the best from the game and never give back anything. That's not fair. He let down the people from Ireland." Although Harrington felt the criticism was ironic, he could at least take some comfort from the fact it didn't come from just anyone, but from a legend who was perhaps the most selfishly driven of all players.

Until the diagnosis last week, the hardest thing for Ballesteros to cope with has been the slow decline of his golfing prowess. His last tournament win was in 1995. Arthritis and chronic back pain combined to make him a shadow of his former sporting genius, unhappy with his new image as Seve Ballesteros, businessman, rather than champion golfer. In late 2006, he told this paper, "Life is like sport. It's a competition every day. Competing against yourself to be better. Better at your job, better father, and there's also the challenge of people wanting to take over from you in the business world."

The business, Amen Corner, continued to thrive, and it has been said that Ballesteros is the kind of guy who probably still has his communion money. But there was the blow of his
16-year marriage ending in divorce in 2004. There has been the subtext of the young poor guy marrying into Spain's wealthy elite – Carmen Botin's father ran the Bank of Santander. The rumour that most infuriated Ballesteros in recent years was that he was suicidal. He took the opportunity during the news conference on his retirement in 2007 to refute any such suggestion as being "not even close to reality".

Always, his hope remained of making a glorious comeback. The legendary birdie made from the car park in Royal Lytham is considered championship golf's greatest recovery. But it remains to be seen if the man who once astounded even his most gifted rivals can now make the most crucial recovery of all.

CV

Born: Severiano Ballesteros; April l957; Pedrena, Cantabria, northern Spain

Career: Won the Open three times, the Masters twice, and 50 European Tours. Captain of the 1997 winning Ryder cup Europe team

Business: Golf promotion company Amen Corner

Personal life: Married Carmen Bonin 1988; three children; divorced 2004

In the news: In intensive care following surgery for a brain tumour.