Seve Ballesteros, who died on May 7, 2011 at the age of 54, would have been 63 on April 9 – the originally scheduled first round of this year’s Masters. This story was first published on March 1, 2017.
In Augusta, the bells are pealing. Next week The Masters starts and Easter follows hot on the heels of the first major championship of the year. Already azaleas are providing blobs of blood red throughout this southern American city, and the church bells are delivering a chorus that chills the spine. Borne on a gentle breeze, the sounds sweep up towards the hilltop eyrie of Augusta National Golf Club. Those there, predominantly enthralled to a god called golf, may recall another reason to celebrate the end of the first full week of April 2017.