Seve Ballesteros, a five-time major champion whose passion and gift for imaginative shot-making invigorated European golf and the Ryder Cup, has died from complications of a cancerous brain tumor. He was 54.

A statement on Ballesteros’ website Saturday said the golf great died at 2:10 a.m. local time peacefully and surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena in northern Spain.

Ballesteros fainted at Madrid’s international airport while waiting to board a flight to Germany on Oct. 6, 2008, and was subsequently diagnosed with the tumor.

He underwent four operations and continued his treatment with chemotherapy.

A handsome figure who feared no golf shot, Ballesteros was as inspirational to European golf as Arnold Palmer is to American golf.