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The man possesses so much pride, you wonder why he is doing this. Has he seen enough good in his game? Has there been a miracle cure for his ailinments? Does he simply want to give back, allowing golf fans to watch one of the all-time greats, even if he is no longer up to the task?

Seve Ballesteros makes his debut on the Champions Tour at this week's Regions Charity Classic in Birmingham, Ala., and while it will be great to see him, it might be with one eye shut.

The Seve of recent vintage has hardly resembled the legendary Seve, the one who captured five major championships and seemingly got up and down from every waste bin along the way.

Maybe it was years of poor swing mechanics or listening to too many voices or the toll that scrambling takes on the nerves, but somewhere along the way, Ballesteros lost his game. Now 50, his last victory was more than a decade ago. While many players prospered in their 40s, Ballesteros was a shadow of his old self. To be sure, chronic back problems were no help.

He did not play a single tournament in 2004 and 2005. Last year, many of his friends and colleagues were shocked that he entered the Open Championship at Hoylake. It was one of just two appearances. He played in this year's Masters, where he had not competed since 2003. In all three, he missed the cut.

So here he is with the seniors -- where there is no cut and maybe not as many expectations.

"I don't want you to think that for one second that coming over here will be a piece of cake," the Spaniard said Tuesday during a conference call. "It will be very tough. The first thing is for me to settle myself, to feel comfortable, to get into the atmosphere. I really haven't competed for a long time."

Ballesteros won 87 times worldwide, competed on eight European Ryder Cup teams and captained the squad to victory on home soil in 1997.

To many, Ballesteros propped up European golf. He was one of the reasons the Ryder Cup was expanded to include all of continental Europe. And he still speaks with pride about what he considers to be his crowning achievement, the Open Championship victory in 1984 over Tom Watson at St. Andrews.

"That was very special," he said. "Beating Tom Watson was special. Winning at the home of golf was special."

Next week, Ballesteros will play the Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, site of one of the most intense Ryder Cups in history. Europe lost by a point when Germany's Bernhard Langer missed a putt on the final green, the final match. But Ballesteros won 4½ half points that year.

It was a time when European golf was phenomenal. Along with Ballesteros and Langer, there was also Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam. Between them, they won 13 major championships between 1983 and 1993.

But no European has won a major since 1999, when Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal won the Masters and Scotland's Paul Lawrie won the British Open.

"I'm wondering what the hell is going on here?" Ballesteros said to laughter. "We've been beating the Americans quite easily. But not in the majors. I don't know. Something is not right here. I don't know what."

Ballesteros' answer was in response to a question about countryman Sergio Garcia, who figured to have been among the Europeans to have won a major by now. He finished second at the PGA Championship in 1999 but has not come any closer since. Garcia finished second at the Players Championship on Sunday but has not won in two years.

"He's striking the ball better and better every year," Ballesteros said. "His putting is not very consistent. He is young. He nearly won the TPC last week. He has plenty of time ahead to win a major. But remember, to win a major ... there are only four per year. It's not easy."

Ballesteros doesn't expect his own return to golf to be easy. He is taking the attitude that it will not matter how he performs, that it will simply be good to be back among many peers whom he competed against for years. That is easy to say now.

For Ballesteros' sake, there is great hope that he regains at least a hint of his old magic. Because even that would be a sight to see.

QUICK TAKE
Sean O'Hair is one of the top young American players, but he is not setting a good example with his pace of play. His excruciating slow play during the final round was the subject of banter among the NBC announcers, and judging by the email in-box, plenty of golf fans. He was so deliberate that he and Phil Mickelson fell nearly two holes behind when they reached the 16th hole. The PGA Tour has a system of warnings and fines in place -- probably not tough enough to matter. It's been said many times that the only way to get a slow player's attention is to threaten him with penalty strokes. That matters. The problem is, penalty strokes are not assessed until a player has been a repeat offender, with a series of warnings and fines already having been levied. And that's too late.
MAILBAG: ASK BOB HARIG
Got a question about the PGA Tour? Ask ESPN.com golf writer Bob Harig, who will answer some inquiries in his column each week. Q: In practice rounds, are players still held to the 14 club limit? Or can they carry as many clubs as they want, in order to see which best suit the course and conditions for that week's tournament? James New York A: Players can -- and often do -- carry more than 14 clubs during practice rounds. The 14-club limit is only in effect for tournaments rounds. Q: If conditions stay fairly consistent, do players generally prefer an early/late draw for the first two days or late/early? Glenn Cedar Rapids, Iowa A: Given the same conditions for two days, it really varies. If a player has a late pro-am time on Wednesday, he might prefer to play late/early on Thursday-Friday. Or if he's early on Wednesday, he might want to go early on Thursday and then late Friday. Players typically get about the same number of early/late, late/early starting times throughout the course of a year. Q: A co-workers' father shot his age yesterday (79). While his was an act of skill, I was lucky enough to make a hole-in-one several years ago which led us to wondering: Which is the more rare occurrence? David Korengold Deerfield, Ill. A: Various surveys put the odds of any one player making a hole in one at about 8,000 to 1. And yet, they happen all the time, by players of any and all skill levels and ages. Although there is no data to record players shooting their age, it would seem based on sheer numbers that doing so occurs less frequently than an ace. We're generally looking at people who are at least 60 and older with any chance to shoot their age for an 18-hole regulation round. That seriously limits the field.

Bob Harig covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times and is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at harig@sptimes.com.