Interview: Tony Jacklin

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If you were a British golf fan in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Tony Jacklin was your hero. When he won the 1969 Open at Royal Lytham, he won just £4,250, but with it, the hearts of a golfing nation. He went on to win the US Open the following year, becoming the first Brit and only the second non-American to do so since Tommy Armour in 1927.

Jacklin was Britain’s answer to Jack Nicklaus. At the 1969 Ryder Cup, the pair were involved in one of the most memorable moments in the competition’s history, Nicklaus conceding a short putt on the 18th to halve the match and ensure that year’s Cup ended in a tie. The pair walked off with arms round each other’s shoulders, looking set to be rivals, friends and equals for years.

Had Lee Trevino not holed a chip shot in the closing stages of the 1972 Open, leaving a shocked Jacklin to three-putt from 16 feet and surrender an Open that looked his for the taking, the Scunthorpe-born truck driver’s son may have gone on to dominate golf for decades. As it was, Trevino’s shot ended not only Jacklin’s chance of victory at that Open, but his ability to contend in any future Majors. “I was never the same again after that,” he says. “I didn’t ever get my head around it; it definitely knocked the stuffing out of me somehow.”

Jacklin would never seriously contend in another Major, but his influence on the game was far from over. In 1985, he captained Europe to their first Ryder Cup victory for 28 years, and followed it with their first ever victory on American soil in 1987. Now, as he turns 70, Jacklin looks back on a career of extreme highs and lows, examines how the game has changed, and what the future of golf has in store…

Tony Jacklin CBE was a special guest at the OnlineGolf.co.uk Golf Day, authorised retailer of all major golf brands including TaylorMade and Lyle & Scott

How has golf changed since you were playing?

It has changed dramatically. Look at the money. I made £600,000 in my career. Martin Kaymer got $1.8million for winning the Players Championship, which isn’t even a Major. It’s not annoying; it’s just the way things are. Nowadays, if you spend a couple of years on the Tour, you’re a multi-millionaire – you don’t even need to win anything.

The other thing is technology. I played the PGA Championship here [Thorndon Park Golf Club, Essex] in 1969. It’s a nice old-fashioned course and a great members’ club, but the pros would tear it apart nowadays, because it’s just too short. When I won The Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, the course was around 7,000 yards. I had a 1-iron in my bag, and I played every club that I had in my bag. I hit a lot of 1-irons off the tee, and even 1-irons and 2-irons for second shots on par 4s.

The ball is going so far now, these guys don’t hit many long irons – they don’t even hit many 4 and 5-irons. They’re hitting the ball so far, they’re hitting more lofted clubs into the greens. The ball is going 40 to 50 yards further than it did. For the course to play the same way, with how far the ball goes now, it would have to be 8,000 yards. Golf is not about muscles; it’s about controlling the ball and putting it in play.

What’s your big memory of your Open win?

Being nervous. Going down the stretch, I’d never been so nervous. I said to Jack Nicklaus at the presentation, ‘I didn’t think I could be that nervous and still play,’ and he said, ‘I know… isn’t it great?’ In front of a home crowd, there was a lot of responsibility. The galleries throughout the week were great. There was a lot of support, but at the same time, there’s a responsibility that goes with it. It was just the greatest achievement to that point in my life.

Tony JacklinAnd the US Open?

People have asked me many times what gave me the most pleasure in my career, and Hazeltine was unquestionably the best week of golf I had in my life. It was as near a perfect week as I ever experienced. That was spectacular; the height of my playing career.

With a four-shot lead going into the final round, I was so nervous about having to go through what I was going to have to go through for the next four or five hours. Coming off the 18th green, winning by seven, I would not have changed places with anybody who had ever lived at any time.

You know as you’re doing it and living it that it’s a special time, but you don’t pay any heed to that – you just get on with doing it. They can’t ever take a thing like that away.

What do you think is the key to winning a Major championship?

Jack said to me that Majors were the easiest ones to win because 95 per cent of the guys didn’t think they could do it. I mean, they all turn up, but there’s a lot of them that, given the chance and if they were in the lead with seven or eight holes to go, maybe couldn’t get it done. You don’t know until you try it – until you test it – so it’s fascinating. That’s why we watch.

I know in my own case, if I’d got off to a good start in a Major, I was mentally engaged, and you’re different then. You behave differently. Your approach is different, whether to do or not to do, whether to take chances. Your whole demeanour becomes different when you’re engaged like that. When you’re in the pack, it’s just a lottery, a crap shoot from there. But when you’ve got a good round under your belt early on, then watch out, if you’ve got the mind for it and the temperament to win it.

They’ve all got used to this golf ball going as far as it does, but you cannot get out of the fact that it’s controlling the golf ball that wins you Major championships, and that’s the examination. It’s just getting your head around it and getting on with it. Whinging won’t get it done.

How does winning a Ryder Cup compare to winning a Major?

It’s a completely different thing. I wouldn’t give up my Majors for anything in the world. That’s what I set out as a young man trying to achieve – winning Major championships. You are beating the best players in the world over four days of competition. You reign supreme after that, so there’s something special that you can’t relate to anything else. My Major championships are golden, as far as I’m concerned. Centuries after I’m gone, if golf is still being played, I’ll be remembered for my Majors.

How different is the Ryder Cup now to when you were involved?

Had I said no to taking on the captain’s role, I think the Ryder Cup would have died on the vine and we wouldn’t be playing it now. I’m not blowing my own trumpet saying that. Tom Weiskopf got picked for the American team one year and didn’t turn up because he didn’t think it was a good competition anymore. When I took on the captain’s role, I knew what needed to be addressed and I was able to make demands that would not have been met at any other time. John Jacobs was captain in the first two Ryder Cups that I played in, and he obviously didn’t recognise what was wrong. America always had more than we did. They were flying on Concorde and we were in the back of the bus on British Airways. Things like the way you travel and the clothing you have can make a real difference. The team rooms were a vital aspect of it. Having a room where the players could come with their wives and girlfriends for food and beverages, so they had no reason to leave. Before that, we would go to a Ryder Cup and there was no camaraderie or place to get together and feel that team spirit nurtured, which I thought was very important. You would huddle in the corner of a smelly locker room, and have a 10-minute meeting with the captain about who would be playing with who the next day, and that was it – “see you tomorrow lads”.

Everybody would disperse and head off into town with their partners. It wasn’t conducive to creating a team atmosphere. Once those things were addressed, we were able to get the best out of what we had as a team. We levelled the playing field. We made it competitive again and it’s turned into something extraordinary. What we achieved during that ’80s period was unforgettable, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s become a wonderful event and a great opportunity to see the best players in the world in a wonderful arena. The players look forward to it immensely and that buzz they get. It’s such a solitary pursuit week in week out that they relish the opportunity to be part of a team.

Click here to read part 2 of our interview with Tony Jacklin…

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