Hundreds of mourners applauded as Seve Ballesteros's ashes were carried into his local church by his three children for the funeral service in honour of the five-times major winner today.
A 10-minute procession from his house overlooking the Bay of Biscay down into the small village of Pedrena was headed up by a lone piper and Ballesteros's children Javier, Miguel and Carmen at the front of the line carrying the urn.
Members of the local rowing club provided a guard of honour with raised oars - his father had been a rower and trainer at the club which carries his name - and they passed houses which had Spain flags hanging from balconies embossed with black ribbons.
Children of the Seve Ballesteros Foundation carried three irons aloft to signify the club with which he started practising with as a child.
Four former Ryder Cup captains - Nick Faldo, Bernard Gallacher, Sam Torrance and Colin Montgomery - and next year's captain, Jose Maria Olazaba,l joined the family under cloudy grey skies.
They passed wreaths of flowers at the gates of Ballesteros's house and more at the entrance to the church where messages from the Spanish Royal family and government could be seen.
The parish church of San Pedro, which can hold around 300, was crammed with mourners while Spanish state television's images were shown on large screens in a square in the village.
Spain's secretary of state for sport, Albert Soler, former cyclist Miguel Indurain and former Spain striker Emilio Butragueno were joined by golfers Miguel Angel Jimenez and world number one Lee Westwood.
Many of Pedrena's 1,500 inhabitants had turned out to watch, while a large number of outsiders had come to pay their last respects, passing a banner on the approach road to the village which read "Thank You, Seve." Local resident Pedro told Reuters: "He [Seve] was a gentleman that I knew for my whole life, I met him when he was a child, and I would like to attend [the funeral]. I had a friendship with his parents and him."
Ballesteros, an inspiration to a generation of golfers, died at his home aged 54 in the early hours of Saturday morning, after having had four operations on a brain tumour diagnosed back in 2008.
After the service the family were to return to his house for a private ceremony where his ashes were to be scattered alongside a Magnolia tree in the garden which Seve himself had planted.
Reuters