How Far Did Seve Ballesteros Drive The Golf Ball?

Seve Ballesteros captured the imagination of the British public when he burst onto the scene as a 19-year-old in The Open Championship of 1976 at Royal Birkdale. He led through 54-holes but eventually missed out to Johnny Miller. Over the next 20 years, Seve dazzled golfing fans around the world with his sparkling creativity, showmanship and competitive zeal.

He was a prolific winner, picking up 90 tournament victories as a professional. He won 50 times on the European Tour, more than any other player in the history of the circuit and he secured five Major titles between 1979 and 1988.

The Spaniard was renowned for his incredible short game and for his ability to salvage pars from seemingly impossible situations. His swashbuckling approach to the game saw him visit parts of golf courses that other professionals didn’t even know existed. He went for his shots and that meant he was somewhat loose from the tee. He was a powerful if erratic driver of the ball, but how far did he hit it?

There are very few stats to go on to look at Seve’s driving average, but we do know that in the 1984 season on the PGA Tour he averaged 262.9 yards for the tournaments he played in. The driving distance leader that year was Bill Glasson who averaged 276.5 yards. Seve was outside of the top-50 in driving distance that season.