Life-size statue of golf legend Seve Ballesteros stolen from his Spain hometown

A life-size statue of Seve Ballesteros that was installed in his hometown has been stolen, Spanish authorities said.

The statue, built in 2009, commemorates Ballesteros' win at the 1984 Open Championship at St. Andrews. The Spaniard died of brain cancer at age 54 in 2011.

"Earlier today we were informed that the statue dedicated to Seve Ballesteros in Pedreña has gone missing. The Local Police and the Civil Guard have launched an investigation to clarify what happened, and all indications suggest that it was a theft," the town council said Monday in an Instagram post.

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The Open Championship depicted in the statue was one of five majors the Hall of Famer won. He won the Masters twice along with two other Open Championships.

Ballesteros played a key role in what the Ryder Cup is today. The tournament had initially been between just the United States and Great Britain and Ireland, but it expanded to include all of Europe in 1979, making Ballesteros and other golf legends eligible.

It took a couple of events for Team Europe to become a force, but since the 1985 Ryder Cup, Team Europe is 13-6-1 and just won back-to-back Cups. 

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This past September's win at Bethpage Black was the first repeat since Europe had won three straight from 2010 to 2014, and it was also the first "road victory" since Europe retained the Cup with a dramatic Sunday comeback in 2012 at Medinah, the first since Ballesteros' death. Fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal was the team captain, while the team wore splashes of navy blue and white on the final day to pay tribute.

In fact, Ballesteros is the reason Rory McIlroy realized he was "wrong" about the Ryder Cup, which he once called an "exhibition."

"I got into that team room at Celtic Manor (in 2010) and I just saw how much it meant to everyone. I sort of started, I was like, maybe I got this wrong…" McIlroy told reporters back at Bethpage. "I remember Seve [Ballesteros] was sick, and we had him on one of those conference call things back in the day. He's speaking to the team, and we're all in the team room. This is on the Wednesday or Thursday night. And I look around and the majority of the team is crying as Seve is talking to us.

"And I'm like, that's it. That's the embodiment of what the European Ryder Cup Team is. I think that was the moment, that conference call with Seve in 2010, was the moment for me."

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