Nothing symbolises the popularity of Severiano Ballesteros more than the effect that the news that he was in hospital in Madrid has had on golf fans in Britain and Ireland. Wherever you go the one subject under discussion is: “What’s wrong with Seve?”

It is of far greater concern to most golfers than Europe’s defeat by the US in last month’s Ryder Cup, or Nick Faldo’s captaincy.

In short, Ballesteros has the status of a true sporting hero in Britain. And this devotion to a man born on the north coast of Spain in April 1957 is returned by him tenfold. Ballesteros has often said that his true fans are those in Britain, those who know how to play the game, who appreciate what he is doing and how he is doing it.

Ballesteros put the pride back into European golf, proving it could be the best in the world. Tony Jacklin, the Englishman, became the first European since the Second World War to make a serious impression by winning two major championships in 1969 and 1970, but Ballesteros led the next generation, winning his first major championship, the Open, in 1979, and his fifth, the Open, in 1988.

The British golfers Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam all followed in winning majors, as did Bernhard Langer, the German.

“At his best, Seve was the best, and the man who did more for golf than anyone else in Europe,” Jacklin said. “He was our Arnold Palmer and people just love to see him play. That is why in his current situation there is so much support for him.”