MADRID — Severiano Ballesteros, 54, died Saturday of cancer, which spread through his body from a brain tumor. It proved to be the greatest obstacle in his life — a lot more powerful than the bunkers he majestically escaped in his days of glory as a professional golfer.

“During my whole career, I was one of the best saving obstacles on the golf course. Now, I want to use all my strength to be the best as I stand before the toughest game of my life,” Ballesteros said when he first came out and said that he was ill in 2008.

And for a while it seemed that he had managed to overcome the odds and beat the sickness. After undergoing two lengthy operations to remove the brain tumor, he left the hospital in December 2008 and underwent four courses of chemotherapy in 2009.

In June of that year he said that it was a “miracle” to be alive. He also announced the formation of a foundation that was to research cancer, focusing mainly on brain tumors, but also providing support for young golfers.