Quiros (left) dedicated his win to the ailing Ballesteros
Alvaro Quiros dedicated his win at the Portuguese Masters to Seve Ballesteros, his fellow Spaniard.
Quiros might, at 25, only be half Seve's age, but the eyes told of the true reverence in which the golfing legend is held.
All weekend here, there's been an uncomfortable undercurrent of concern about the health of the great man.
Information about his condition has been hard to come by, with the hospital in Madrid where he's undergone surgery for a brain tumour refusing to say anymore until his condition changes, for better or worse.
At the time of writing, Ballesteros remains stable in intensive care.
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Archive - Seve career retrospective
On the face of it, it was business as usual here in Vilamoura, but everyone's demeanour changed when I spoke to about them about the ailing Spaniard.
A couple of hours after speaking to Jean van de Velde, he came to find me. "It's terrible," the Frenchman said. "Just 51, just 51."
South African David Frost also dropped into the media centre for an update. Lee Westwood, Monty, Steve Webster as defending champion all paid tribute.
Some of the other Spanish golfers didn't want to discuss it at all. Too close to home perhaps, too sensitive an issue, but privately they were texting his family, sharing their best wishes.
Others like Martin Gray, who caddied for Ballesteros for a couple of years, were happy to share stories about him.
Gray recalled the time he'd been given a proper telling off with a capital 'B' for putting under-ripe bananas in Seve's bag for on-course snacking a couple of days running.
"Why the hell are you giving me these?" protested the Spaniard. Gray, keen to make it clear his knowledge of bananas was limited, replied: "I'm a (expletive) caddy, not a (expletive) greengrocer."
"Inspiration" was a recurring adjective in the conversations I snatched with golfers in Vilamoura.
It's often misused, but in the case of Ballesteros the word is clearly entirely accurate. Paul Lawrie, Paul Broadhurst and Van de Velde all went on the record about what an inspirational figure he is to them.
As the Tour heads now to Castellon in Spain, the plight of Ballesteros will be even closer to home for the tour pros as they chase the final cheques of the year in hope and trepidation.
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