Golf:European golf has had so much to smile about lately, but not this weekend and not for a while — not after the death of the man Paul McGinley has described as the game's Elvis Presley. At the age of only 54 Seve Ballesteros passed away at home in Pedrena at 2.10am today after his long battle against a brain tumour.

The loss of Europe’s most charismatic and greatest ever player — even Nick Faldo concedes that although he won six majors to the Spaniard’s five — immediately brought tributes pouring in from around the world.

And not just from people involved in golf. Ballesteros, who miraculously had stayed alive for more than two years after he collapsed at Madrid Airport, was that special and his impact that great. A minute’s silence was held at the Spanish Open in Barcelona, the flags were at half-mast and all the players — his former Ryder Cup partner Jose Maria Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie were among them — wore black ribbons.

In addition to the funeral which will be held in Pedrena on Wednesday, there will almost certainly be a memorial service of some description at or near Wentworth later this month.

The BMW PGA Championship is the European Tour’s flagship event, it is also the week of the Tour’s annual dinner and proceeds from a pro-am there had already been ear-marked for the Seve Ballesteros Foundation.

McGinley, a Ryder Cup hero himself and captain of the Britain and Ireland team that won the Seve Trophy two years ago, said: “I think it will be a great and emotional day at Wentworth when we play for his charity. I used to say to him and he used to laugh that he reminded me a lot of Elvis Presley.

“I know that’s a big thing to say, but not just in trail-blazing but also in looks I don’t think it’s too high a thing to say that he was very comparable. What I remember is the charisma and the passion. The Ryder Cup would not be what it is without Seve. He led the charge.

“Nobody in the golf game has ever had the same charisma. When he smiled the whole world smiled with him — it’s the old saying. He had that ability. And it was the same when he scowled — everybody knew how Seve was feeling. His emotions were multiplied by 10 all the time.

“You could easily read Seve and I think that’s what endeared him so much to so many people, especially the people in Britain and Ireland. I think that’s where he had his greatest affinity with the golfing public. Seve was one of those guys where if you liked him he liked you back 10 times more and if you didn’t like Seve he hated you 10 times more.

“He was that kind of personality. Yes he had his moments and his brushes with authorities, but that’s what kind of made him. He lived his life in a very emotional way and that’s made him so endearing.”

Like all those who met Ballesteros McGinley has his own cherished first memory.

“I went as a boy to watch a practice round for the Irish Open at Royal Dublin. There might have been only 20 or 30 people around the tee at the par four 16th at the time and, with typical Irish humour, somebody challenged him to try to drive the green on his knees. The hole was about 280 yards and he did it.”

An emotional Colin Montgomerie spoke from the heart about the death of Ballesteros. After competing alongside his successor as Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal — himself in floods of tears on hearing the news — at the Spanish Open, Montgomerie said: “Very few people are called legends in this world and Seve was one of them.

“Never before in our lifetime have we seen such a talent swing a golf club. Such a great day for Spain, for Europe and for the world of golf. We’ve lost one of the great icons of the sport, but may we also celebrate Seve’s life. I think it’s only right at this time — what a character and what a passionate man he was.

“It was an honour to play under him as our captain in the Ryder Cup (in 1997) and an honour to play with him.”

Tiger Woods said Ballesteros was one of the greatest players ever to play the game.

“I was deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Seve Ballesteros. I always enjoyed spending time with him at the Champions dinner each year at the Masters,” Woods said on Twitter.

“Seve was one of the most talented and exciting golfers to ever play the game. “His creativity and inventiveness on the golf course may never be surpassed. His death came much too soon.”