SEVE BALLESTEROS, who spent the weekend trying desperately to get an ailing game back into shape, has his second outing of the season in this week's Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship at Houghton GC, Johannesburg. He will be joined there by an Irish challenge small in number but including the inform Padraig Harrington.
In the process of shooting a grim first round of 82 in the Dimension Data Pro Am last Thursday, Ballesteros was actually eight strokes worse than his six handicap amateur partner, a Johannesburg banker named Jacko Maree. And even after a second round of 72, the European Ryder Cup skipper missed the cut by 10 strokes.
But for all that, the Spaniard remains a force in the game, according to Nick Price, who cruised to victory in Sun City on Sunday. "I wouldn't count Seve out just yet," said Price. "There's too much heart there."
For his own part, Ballesteros has made it clear that his decision on whether to be a playing captain at Valderrama wilt be made strictly in the best interests of the team. "I don't have to think about it yet but when I do, that will be my only consideration," he said.
Then, Spanish pride coming to the fore, he added: "It will be my personal decision whether I play and nobody will influence me. Nobody will influence me on the selection of the team, either."
Whatever his problems, it is clear the European season will not adopt a coherent shape for any of the leading competitors until the Desert Classic in Dubai next week. This is reflected in the entries for this week's event in which Paul McGinley will be in action but Darren Clarke will be an absentee, despite staying on in South Africa.
Des Smyth is also heading for Dubai, but he was happy yesterday to be home in Drogheda, having earned £4,727 at Sun City. Smyth, who spent the previous weekend in hospital, is fully recovered from the food poisoning which he contracted prior to the first round of the South African Open on February 6th.
"It was a hell of a way to start a new season but, thankfully, I'm fine now," he said yesterday. "In fact I'm greatly encouraged by the way I played at Sun City where I saw Padraig Harrington take what I believe was another small step towards making the Ryder Cup team."
The full Irish line up for Glendower on Thursday is: Harrington, McGinley, Eamonn Darcy, David Higgins and John McHenry. And they may anticipate a formidable "local" challenge from such as Price, David Frost and Fulton Allem, quite apart from the European line up.
Meanwhile, in the US, the notion of players for courses gained rich emphasis on Sunday when Paul Stankowski captured the Hawaiian Open after a three way - play off with Jim Furyk and Mike Reid. As it happened, Reid, without a win since 1988, departed the scene through a bogey at the first tie hole and Stankowski eventually overcame Furyk with a birdie at the fourth extra hole.
His success was particularly interesting for the fact that it followed a victory in the Kapalua International last November, so completing the same Hawaiian double that Furyk had achieved 12 months previously. And it had much to do with an ability to handle the special challenge of notoriously difficult Bermuda greens.
Even Furyk suffered. Indeed his place in the play off was quite remarkable given that he fourputted the 15th for a double bogey six. But in common with Stankowski and Reid, he went on to pitch and putt the long 18th for a closing birdie.
The success of the 28 year old Californian reflects the formidable strength of emerging American players. After ending the 1995 season in 133rd position in the money list, Stankowski went on to retain his card by finishing 15th in the Qualifying School.
Five months later, he had captured the Bell South Classic, beating Brandel Chamblee in a playoff at Atlanta. He then had the confidence to build on that success, ending the season with official earnings of $390,373 for 52nd place in the US money list. Then came victory at Kapalua.
