Watch once owned by Seve Ballesteros special to Paul Casey

Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo. Those were Paul Casey’s “guys” when he was growing up.

Two very different golfers, to be sure.

Faldo was a tactician on the course, one of the game’s most cerebral, calculating players ever. Ballesteros, on the other hand, played with passion and panache, and he seemingly could – and usually did -- extricate himself from the most challenging of predicaments.

When Casey was a teenager with big dreams of following in their footsteps, he used to go to Wentworth, the home of the European Tour, each year to watch his heroes play in what is now known as the BMW PGA Championship.

“The more emotional attachment (was) to Seve as a kid growing up,” acknowledges Casey, who would go on to win the BMW in 2009 just as Faldo had done four times and Ballesteros twice.

“Just the feeling, the flare, the flamboyancy.”

So, when Casey, who has been collecting watches for about 20 years, had a chance to buy one that belonged to the late Spaniard several years ago, he jumped at the opportunity. Ballesteros had given it to a mutual friend who had decided to auction it off raise money for a brain cancer charity.

“I bought it at a horribly high price because it was the right thing to do,” Casey says with a huge smile. “So, it stayed in our group of friends.”

Casey keeps the watch in a safe, but he occasionally wears it or lets others put it on. The watch is one of his favorites, and not just because it’s a Rolex – he’s an ambassador for the luxury brand.

“It’s one of my favorite watches,” Casey says. “It's not a rarity factor. It's a Rolex, but it's not one of the rarest models they've ever made.

“It's just the fact it's Severiano Ballesteros' watch, that he wore, took off his wrist and gave to my friend. So, I've got all the papers and everything.”

Not surprisingly, Casey’s association with Rolex has been a boost to his collection. He’s particularly interested in vintage watches, and the wine aficionado with the diverse tastes has a collection of Nike Dunks, too.

But the watch that belonged to Seve is among the Englishman’s most prized possessions.

Casey isn’t exactly sure when he actually spoke to Ballesteros for the first time. He could have been a kid, and if so, he’s almost certain he would have just stood there in awe, more than likely tongue-tied. But he does remember playing golf with the World Golf Hall of Famer several times.

One round on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, was particularly memorable.

“He was not playing his best golf, but I got to witness Seve moments,” Casey says.

Seve “moments” often revolved around the most improbable recoveries after an errant tee shot or a wayward iron. In this case, adding to the lore, Ballesteros hit his approach to an uphill green 40 yards left of the putting surface, nearly out of bounds.

The ball came to rest on the top of a low stone wall, which was about a foot high and 4 feet wide. Casey watched in disbelief as the Spaniard played the ball as it lay, hitting it to about 4 feet and making the putt from there.

“It was the most ridiculous shot,” Casey says. “It's like flint, stones and bricks. It wasn't even flat.

“I just seen a Seve moment. It was brilliant. Because that's what I used to watch, and now I'm there marking his scorecard. There were many more after that as well.”

Casey also remembers playing in the now-defunct Seve Trophy, which pitted Great Britain and Ireland against continental Europe. He was a member of the GB&I team five times, including four appearances before Ballesteros died in 2011 at the age of 54 after a battle with brain cancer.

“He was brilliant,” Casey says. “The way he'd be sort of marching around, commanding his troops. And we were going against him, so we used to get to see kind of his battle cries.

“I loved every minute of it.”