England’s Tony Jacklin, 76, became a national hero in 1969 at Royal Lytham when he became the first British player since Max Faulkner to win the British Open since 1951. By the time he won the 1970 U.S. Open, he was as big as The Beatles. The son of a truck driver, Jacklin capped off his Hall of Fame career by breathing new life into the Ryder Cup as four-time captain of the European squad (1983-1989).
These days, Jacklin and wife, Astrid, are sheltering-in-place in Bradenton, Florida, not far from The Concession Golf Club, which he co-designed with Jack Nicklaus. He has a regular Friday golf game; 14 grandchildren that he dotes on; tracks the play of his son, Sean, who is an aspiring touring professional; works on a Ryder Cup book he is co-writing; and enjoys marquetry, the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures.
Golfweek: From 1969 to 1972, you made golf look easy. What clicked?
Tony Jacklin: My game just got better and better and I got my PGA Tour card in 1967. I befriended Tom Weiskopf and Bert Yancey when I started playing in the U.S. We helped each other. We played a lot of practice rounds together and hit balls together. I worked on my tempo and I learned the importance of the lower body. I hit a thousand 7-irons. Once I got that done, I was able to fulfill my ambitions.
I also learned how to slow my swing down when the pressure was on. Winning in Jacksonville in 1968 was a big thing because I was drawn with Arnold Palmer and Don January in the last round and it was never easy to play in front of Arnie’s Army. To win in that environment proved to me that I could take the heat and I got pretty good at it.
GW: What golfers putting stroke do you wish you had?
TJ: Back then, I didn’t want anyone’s but my own. Putting is 90 percent confidence and 10 percent method. I did play with Bobby Locke and never saw a better putter. I never saw anyone make more long putts than Tom Watson.
GW: What defeat haunts you the most?
TJ: No doubt, the Open in 1972. It did change my outlook when (Lee) Trevino chipped in five times during the last two rounds (at Muirfield) and I was alongside him. Something in my psyche got tripped up there. I didn’t think luck played that big a role in the game. I thought if you worked hard and kept your head down you’d become better than everyone else. He did some audacious things the last two days, and the final thing was when he chipped in on the 71st hole for par and three-putted from 15 feet for bogey. The timing of it all was pivotal. There was no time to recover. That was undoubtedly the thing that knocked the stuffing out of me. I won more events on the European Tour during the rest of the 70s, but I knew all along that the majors were the only ones that really counted from a history standpoint.
GW: Who inspired you as a mentor and why?
TJ: I was inspired by the Ryder Cup in 1957 when it came to Lindrick (GC) and my dad took me to watch at age 13. That’s a very impressionable age to find inspiration, and it was the first time I’d seen world-class golf. The irony was GB&I won that one. I rushed home after we’d been there the final day and went out to play and shot my lowest scores for nine holes.
A few years later, I’d won everything there was to win in my county and I remember my dad said to me the best players in the world are no different than me. He said, “They had two arms, two legs and a head on their shoulder just like you.” It may have been an oversimplification in some respect but it was a down-to-earth view of things and I never forgot it. I made it my absolute business to play with the best players in practice because those were the ones I could learn from and if I could beat them, I could beat anybody.
GW: Since you’ve mentioned the Ryder Cup, let’s stay on that topic. Which Ryder Cup victory was more memorable for you – the first win in ’85 or winning on American soil in ’87?
TJ: That’s a tough question. Funny enough, it’s probably 1983 when we lost. Allow me to explain. When I took the helm, as it were, I changed a number of things. They didn’t pick me for the job until 6 months before. I had no captain’s picks and we only lost by a single point. We had a team room, which we’d never had before, and leveled the playing field in travel and arranged for proper uniforms and it all boosted the self-esteem of the players. We were very disappointed we didn’t get it done, but it was Seve who said, “Don’t be so sad. This is a victory for us.” He was right. That was a stepping stone for winning on home soil in 1985. That was fantastic, but the win in ’87 at Muirfield Village in Jack’s backyard (Nicklaus was U.S. captain) will always be the ultimate. That cracked the dominance and validated the changes I’d made.
You have to understand that in the 1960s and 70s, we turned up and we wanted to win, but we didn’t have the confidence. We had the bravado but we didn’t really believe it. I went back after ’83 and reflected on how we could improve and I decided we’d gotten it right, and basically, Europe has dominated ever since.
GW: Should the Ryder Cup be played this year or does it need to be postponed?
TJ: No way. Not unless they can have the crowds there and things change very quickly. It would be a disaster. I think they should delay it and go back to the odd years while things get back to whatever normal is going to be.
More than any event, the Ryder Cup needs the galleries. They make it. The pressure builds up and there’s like a spiritual connection between the players and the galleries, and they make it, more than any other event, in my view.
It’s not war, but you’re certainly going out to battle every time in your armor and sharing so much emotion with all of your teammates. It really makes you appreciate what it has become. I remember prior to playing in it, Rory (McIlroy) made the statement that it is just an exhibition. I thought, you’ll find out different, pal, and he has and he’s passionate about it now. The atmosphere created is just extraordinary. It’s something else altogether.
GW: Who do you consider the biggest underachiever in golf you ever saw and why?
TJ: Sergio Garcia. He’s been one of the best players on the planet for the last 20 years and doesn’t have much to show for it. Seve had more courage in his little finger than this lad. Don’t get me wrong, Sergio has been a prolific winner, but he had the ability to win double-digit majors. Trevino said long ago, God never gave one man everything. Garcia would be the one that jumps out to me. He’s been a marvelous Ryder Cup player. When he’s bathed in the team environment it brings the best out of him. It seems to give him comfort to perform at his best as opposed to when he’s all alone and it seems like a huge task. Even the Masters he won (in 2017), I thought the wheels were going to come off at the 13th. He’s 41 now, and I can’t see him being born again. To think that he’s only won one major as a ball striker like he is, well, it’s mind-boggling.
GW: If you could have front row seats to any concert, who would you like to see?
TJ: I’ve seen him. It was Frank Sinatra. I saw him at the Albert Hall when he was still performing. “Fly me to the Moon” and “My Way” are my favorites. I was a lyric man and I think they ran out of good lyrics about 25 years ago, to be honest with you. But I’m profoundly deaf now. I’ve got the best pair of hearing aids you can get. Noise and I do not do very well.