All attention was on the Americans, particularly Johnny Miller. When, a year later, he played in the Open at Birkdale, Ballesteros was still unknown and such was the raw state of his English that Manuel had to translate at the press conferences.His anonymity had not been difficult to preserve. Manuel brought him to Britain for the first time in 1975 to play in the PGA event at the Royal St George's course, Sandwich Seve was 18 and had never seen a course like it He missed the cut and still dislikes it. He was as hard on his caddie as he was on himself and he exhausted the patience of several, including all three brothers - even Manuel who gave up his own promising playing career to support Seve's.

Since his style was to attack every shot without consideration for a safer option his wildness brought many opportunities for dissent.One senior British pro recalls the young Seve with the words 'He was like John Daly, without the control'. But his case was a little more serious because he would object to any shot that didn't go down the hole, no matter how far away he was. In common with many great players, his temper was short and his club-throwing long. Golf, however, hadn't brought riches to the family who lived simply in a farmhouse overlooking the fishing village of Pedrena in northern Spain where Seve was caddying for a few pesetas by the time he was eight.At 16 he became the youngest professional in Spain and was on the European circuit by the time he was 17 His was not a gentle introduction. All three are professional golfers themselves, as was their father, Baldomero Snr, and, more famously, his mother's brother Ramon Sota who was Spain's best player in his day. It was a dismissal he later heard about and has had the satisfaction on several occasions since of returning the compliment.He is managed now by the American Joe Collet while his three older brothers, Baldomero, Manuel and Vicente, assist him in his various promotional companies. He was enthusiastically recommended to them as a future star while he was teenager They rejected him.

Both events are organised by the International Management Group whose many strengths do not appear to include the management of internationals.Ballesteros is not one of IMG's many golfing clients and he muttered darkly about the agency's growing influence on the European Tour, an influence that might have been greater if the Spaniard had joined the star-studded stable in his early years To IMG this remains a sore point. But Ballesteros is taking his first week off for six weeks and declined to be in the Spanish team, Nick Faldo decided not to play for England and Ian Woosnam is not in the Welsh team because the Welsh team was not invited. Sadly, it fits the pattern of a calendar that appears too crowded and complicated for its own good, a complaint Ballesteros has aired for years.For instance, the first players in the world ratings, Nick Price and Greg Norman, refused invitations to contest Wentworth's world title although they have been representing their countries at the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews. He had lost form but not admirers and after 18 consecutive years in the tournament - his record of five victories is matched only by Gary Player - the idea of excluding him was ridiculous. But, whatever his form and with or without his dander up, Ballesteros is still a beguiling sight to the aficionado and he would have been the main attraction anyway. If Ballesteros's peevishness has enough propulsion left, there will be more to come this week and there is no doubt who will attract the largest galleries as the 16 contenders for the Match Play title weave their way through the Burma Road course at Wentworth.