Seve Ballesteros, Spain's greatest ever golfer, is "gravely ill" in intensive care, doctors at a Madrid hospital have said.
 
The Daily Telegraph reports the 51-year-old has been undergoing tests since collapsing at Madrid's Barajas Airport last Friday. Such is the seriousness of his condition that his family have been summoned to La Paz hospital and a full medical bulletin is to be issued on Saturday.

Ballesteros, three times winner of the British Open and a leading member of victorious Ryder Cup teams, fainted and briefly became unconscious at the airport where he had arrived to take part in the Madrid Open.

But doctors say he is now conscious and talking but they have detected "a grave illness" after tests and scans on his brain.

In recent years he has suffered from ill health, initially with his spine, and although he retired in 2007, he has still played in some tournaments but without his usual success.

He is divorced from Carmen Botín, a daughter of the banking family that owns Banco Santander, and they have three children.

On his website, Ballesteros has posted a note of thanks to the many fans who have expressed concern at his condition and are wishing him a speedy recovery.

The Seve Trophy was created by him in 2000 as a Ryder Cup style challenge between the British Isles and Ireland against the rest of Europe. This year he was officially named Spanish Sportsman of the Century.

He comes from a great golfing family in Pedreña, across the estuary from the port of Santander, northern Spain, but their humble origins meant he could only play the local course at night or just practiced on the beach.