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.

Remember though, Seve’s prime – in the 1980s – came when players still used persimmon drivers and a golf ball that travelled shorter distances than those used today. With modern equipment, Seve would have hit the ball a good deal further.

We know that Seve was an inconsistent driver, prone to wayward blows which would have impacted his average. But, as mentioned, he was also a showman and he could produce powerful strikes if the occasion demanded.

Seve played an exhibition match against Liam Higgins at Cork Golf Club on the 15th of August 1983. Higgins was renowned as one of the very longest hitters on the European Tour at the time. Seve wasn’t going to be outshone that day though. On the par-5 11th, he unleashed a monster drive that was measured at 363 yards. The club planted a Spanish Chestnut tree in honour of Seve’s epic drive and a commemorative plaque still marks the spot of “Seve’s Tree.”

Another piece of concrete evidence we have comes from the Ryder Cup. In both the 1985 and 1989 matches at The Belfry – Seve famously drove the green on the par-4 10th. The hole measured 291 yards in 1985. To reach the green, almost all of the yardage is carry as a stream guards the front of the putting surface.

There’s also anecdotal evidence. In a 2017 interview with Golf Monthly, Sir Nick Faldo talked about the distance debate and mentioned that Seve was a longer hitter than him and he said that Seve would, “Get it to 280, occasionally even 300 – but that was with run.”

As Seve’s back deteriorated in the early 1990s, David Leadbetter encouraged him to shorten his swing and to lose a bit of distance. In an interview with your author back in 2014, Leadbetter said the following:

“Look at old Masters films, even with the old wooden headed wooden drivers, he was long. He could hit it 300 plus, maybe not always in the right direction but he was long.”

But as his back worsened, he started to become “short and crooked” according to Leadbetter. They worked on a more compact action that helped Seve find fairways and he won a couple of tournaments as a result. But Seve was too proud to compromise and apparently went back to the longer swing. Leadbetter recalls that Seve said to him:

“David I know I played well last year, but that was too mechanical for me, I’m a feel player, I need to go back to feel.”

In his prime, Seve could drive the ball prodigious distances, but his lack of accuracy meant it wasn’t hugely consistent. The average we have for him in 1984 was 262.9 yards but evidence from those who played with him would suggest he was a little longer than that.

We know Greg Norman was one of the longest drivers in Seve’s era and his average was around the 275-yard mark. Nick Faldo was a shorter hitter than Seve and his average was around the 260-265-yard mark. A fair estimate for Seve then in terms of driving distance would be around 265-270 yards.