SPANISH golf legend Severiano Ballesteros is still in intensive care after a third operation on his brain in 10 days. Doctors at La Paz hospital in Madrid acted on Friday to ease swelling in the brain and remove the remains of a tumour, on which they had first operated on October 14, after he collapsed at Madrid airport on October 6.

Ballesteros underwent a second operation on October 16. When it was announced that he would require a third, which the hospital described as “of great complexity”, and that the tumour was cancerous, the worst was feared.

La Paz’s chief brain surgeon, Javier Heredero, said after the six-hour ordeal that “the targets planned have been achieved and have eliminated the oedema and the remnants of the tumour”. However, a hospital spokesman urged caution. “He is in a serious but stable condition at the intensive care unit where he will remain for the next few days.” He added yesterday: “We only want to say that Severiano Ballesteros continues to be in a stable condition within the seriousness of his condition and remains in the intensive care unit.”

Maria Acacia, a press officer for this week’s Volvo Masters tournament at Valderrama, where Ballesteros captained Europe to Ryder Cup victory in 1997, said that she had “taken phone calls from every radio station in Spain, even in the villages, asking for news, wishing to know if there has been improvement or otherwise. The amount of people who care for Seve Ballesteros is extraordinary”.

Times Archive, 1980: Ballesteros claims his first Masters

The 23-year-old won at Augusta with a four-stroke victory over Jack Newton and Gibby Gilbert

• Ballesteros takes Open with a final flourish, 1984

Related Links

• Ballesteros undergoing third operation

• Ballesteros: I have a brain tumour

Multimedia

• Send your messages of support to Seve

England’s Justin Rose, playing in the Castello Masters in Spain, added his voice and that of his fellow professionals to the hordes of those concerned. “Everyone is keeping a very close eye on the situation and wishing Seve all the best,” he said. “We are all wishing him and his family well.”

Ballesteros won five majors, including three Open championships, between 1979 and 1988 and topped the European Order of Merit six times. He played in eight Ryder Cups, winning three, during which he won 20 of 37 matches and halved five.