The rise of Seve Ballesteros was the subject of Golf Monthly’s September 1978 issues, the cover shot and accompanying feature proclaiming him as one of golf’s new ‘big three’ alongside Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson.
That was a reference to a period 15 years earlier when US TV seized on golf as a way of filling the screens to profitable end, creating a series of golf matches that featured just ‘The Big Three’ of Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer. While no new TV series was forthcoming with the late ‘70s triumvirate, there was no doubt that they were dominating the game in the same way.
“Some might care to argue that this is a rapid ‘promotion’ for Ballesteros on the strength of one ‘major’ success,” intoned the leader article. “But the young Spaniard had, without a doubt, already captured the imagination of the golfing world even before his Open Championship victory in July, and it would be difficult at this moment that victory being the only major success he will have in his golfing career.”
Read more on the new big three here.
