[metallion]

What makes him one of the very best short game player in the history of golf? Or he is not?

Not an expert, but I'd say its safe to say he is one of the best SG:ers ever. Probably because he was born with a good sense of RHYTHM and then added many 10's of 10.000 short game practice shots to that. The rest of the formula is being very mentally strong (partly due to confidence from practice) and of course proper execution of components.

I think he used quite a few variations. I believe there was a movie posted here maybe a year ago. Someone followed Seve around while he demonstrated his procedure and variations for different shots. Might have been an Academy Live session. It was Seve talking to someone he considered a friend and not a "formal" demo session.

I had the privilege of happen to stand just 4 feet away as he executed a tricky little chip during the 2006 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. He was probably 10 feet off the green. The hole was cut hard up against a bunker. He had the bunker to his left and a severe hump (on the green) between the ball and the hole.

For a rookie amateur that shot would be quite intimidating and I guess a high handicapper would leave 2 out of 4 in the bunker - should they go for it. The strategic high handicaper would chip away from the hole, eliminate the hump and the bunker by taking two putts.

Seve summarized the situation, walked up and down. Took 5-6 practice swings. His chip was brave - skipping onto the green, losing speed over the bump due to spin and the slope where he landed it. The result was a 2 feet putt for par.

Pretty much "another day at the office".