• Out of Bounds

New Tour logo not the best way to commemorate Seve

Seve Ballesteros' contribution to golf has led to growing claims for his memory to be honoured © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: European Tour 'actively considering' Seve logo change
  
• News: Ballesteros family plea for Ryder Cup to return to Spain
  
• News: McDowell seeing positive signs
  
• News: Players Championship to honour Seve
  
• News: European supremacy down to Seve - Monty
  
• News: Golf legend Seve Ballesteros dies at 54
  

Credit - or perhaps blame - Padraig Harrington.

As the world prepares to bid farewell to Seve Ballesteros at his funeral on Wednesday, thoughts since the Spaniard's death early on Saturday have eventually turned to ways the game can commemorate his vast contribution to the sport, during the five-time major champion's 87-win professional career.

During a week where the Irishman was involved in another rules controversy - although this time escaping punishment, with inconclusive evidence of any wrongdoing after being accused of teeing off in front of a tee-box at Quail Hollow - the Irishman gained some slightly more positive media coverage for his suggestion that we should honour Ballesteros' memory by changing the European Tour logo to incorporate his image.

"I'm not sure who is on our logo for the European Tour, but I'd certainly back putting Seve on it," Harrington said. "There have been a lot of great people who have done the work behind the scenes, but there's nobody who has as much of a connection to the European Tour as Seve Ballesteros."

This is not a unique idea, of course, although it is a suitably reverential one. The NBA's logo famously features the silhouette of former Los Angeles Laker Jerry West, one of the game's early pioneers, and the immediate reception suggests a Ballesteros homage would be popular - even if unarguably his most iconic pose (after winning the 1984 Open Championship) has already been commandeered by the man's own company and would thus probably have to be overlooked.

There is a significant problem with Harrington's inspired, and to date almost universally applauded, idea, however - the European Tour already has a golfer on its logo. Harry Vardon's passing might not have created a trending topic on Twitter when he died in 1937 (although there's probably a good reason for that), but he is nevertheless an integral player in golf's history.

A seven-time major champion, whose 'Vardon grip' on the club is still used and taught by the vast majority of top professionals today, the Jersey-born man was a technically-gifted player who overcame dire social conditions in his early years to become arguably the premier member of the 'Great Triumvirate' (alongside James Braid and JH Taylor) who built interest in the game in Britain and then crossed the pond to perform a similar trick in the US.

Vardon inspired the likes of Francis Ouimet and Bobby Jones in their formative years - two Americans who, alongside Walter Hagen, he arguably passed on the spirit of the game and who would subsequently build it up with their exploits to then hand on again to the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and eventually Tiger Woods.

Needless to say, Vardon's impact on the east side of the Atlantic was similarly profound, albeit before the European Tour became anything like the globetrotting entity it is now. Nevertheless, to remove him from the logo - one which, to add context, was only even introduced in 2008 - to instead incorporate Seve would be a victory of timing, and not necessarily merit.

Could this iconic image of Seve, or one of the many others, be incorporated into a new European Tour logo? © Getty Images

Enlarge

We can't replace former greats on such items every time another supplants them in the public conscious - no matter the urge or immediate swell of support. If nothing else, it would only serve to diminish the value of the honour itself.

Perhaps a compromise would be a viable option - Vardon on one side of any branding and Seve on the other - as both represent different elements of what is sometimes dismissed as a strait-laced game.

While Seve was a swashbuckling maverick who harnessed his emotion for his own advantage and relied on an unmatched shotmaking ability to vanquish his foes, Vardon was a meticulous, understated man who relied on perfect fundamentals and superior course-management to rise above the fray.

Together, they just about cover every point of character golf values, inspires or demands.

There is just one problem of course: Seve wouldn't want to share the limelight with anyone - unless perhaps that man was Jose Maria Olazabal and they were playing a crucial fourball match in the Ryder Cup. And that's why another tribute would perhaps be better.

Building the Seve Trophy, a Ryder Cup-style contest between British and European players, into a tournament more fitting of his name would be a start. But considering it is currently officially entitled 'The Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros' - and players are paid to attend and participate - the point where it becomes a fitting tribute, rather than a vaguely corporate attempt to artificially emulate a tournament Seve's passion helped grow organically, seems many miles away.

If Madrid are awarded hosting rights to the 2018 Ryder Cup, as looks increasingly likely, then naming the course (currently under construction) after him would be an obvious move. We can also safely assume that the possibility of having a tournament that carries his name on the European Tour every year - why not the Spanish Open? - will be discussed at some point by the Tour hierarchy in the near future.

Beyond that, other options seem to lack the required gravitas. Awarding a 'Seve Ballesteros' trophy to the leading points scorer at each Ryder Cup would ensure he remains linked to the tournament he always appeared to be so proud to play a part in, but perhaps that would dilute slightly from the focus on the team that is its charm.

Alternatively, the European Tour is curious for its lack of notable end-of-season awards (the Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award apart) - putting the Order in Merit in Seve's name would be an option (although perhaps the value of that has been eclipsed by the race of Dubai), or a trophy could be created to recognise the player with the lowest scoring average (generally a good judge of a player's quality) each year.

The name of the PGA Tour equivalent to that award? The Vardon Trophy.

Unfortunately a more fitting tribute, at least one made without removing someone else's name from a plaque or upsetting the historical status quo (which was often Seve's modus operandi but is not usually golf's) will be hard to find.

Of course, ultimately all such discussions are trivial. We can put his name or image on any trophy or prize we desire, but it will only serve as a ceremonial footnote to a life that was lived in the moment and thus unforgettable to all those lucky enough to experience it.

Seve's memory will always endure - fortunately for us it his achievements, and not any tribute that we decide to posthumously award him, that will ensure that.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.