Seve Ballesteros announced yesterday that he has retired from golf. The 50 year old, who was born on the 9th April, 1957 in the village of Pedreña (near Santander), was speaking at Carnoustie, where he made his debut as a professional golfer at the age of 18 in 1975, and which is the venue for this year's Open, which tees off on Thursday.

The winner of three Open and two Masters titles has been suffering with back and knee problems for much of the past decade and has been finding it increasingly difficult to make the cut at tournaments.

"This has been the most difficult decision of my life," said Ballesteros yesterday. "For a few months there was something confused inside me, an internal fight. My head said 'I think you should retire' but my heart was telling me you would be better to continue playing and competing."

Ballesteros became the youngest 20th century player to win the Open when he did so at the age of 22 in 1979. He went on to win the title again in 1984 and 1988, also taking the Masters Green Jacket in 1980 and 1983.

Ballesteros played a leading role in four European Ryder Cup victories against the US and captained the side to victory in Spain in 1997.

He admitted yesterday that after a career spanning 33 years, he feels that the time has come to take things a little easier: "I don't have the desire any longer. I have worked very hard from morning to night and put all my energy and effort into the game, focused 100 percent and I felt that was enough. I have a number of good years left and I'd rather spend time now with my three children and my companies and friends."