Tony Jacklin.

[Dave3498]

I enjoyed Jeremy Elwoods interview with R& A Chief Peter Dawson in this month's GM, and I wholeheartedly agree with Dawson's comments about the Tony Jacklin Open win as being the turning point that gave European golf hope. We had for years been playing second fiddle to the Americans and the Australians up to that point. I'm therefore surprised that there is not more coverage of the Jacklin win in the review of Royal Lytham and St.Annes in other parts of the magazine. Even the free course planner that came with the magazine doesn't bother to mention the Jacklin 1969 win, even though it covers all the other wins from Bobby Jones in 1926 to David Duval in 2001.

To my mind, Tony Jacklin had a much greater effect on European golf than he has ever been given full credit for, especially what he did to make the Ryder Cup the event it is today.

 

[doc333]

That event was the first time I saw any golf, as we were allowed to watch it in the classrom at school. I never really looked at it before, but seeing the exitemnt and actually seeing some of the greats like Jack, Trevino, Tom, Mr Loo with his trilby, gary Player etc, it was brilliant. So it made an impression on me and although I've never really been a fan of Jacklin's (Even at the RC) I have to agree that he started a lot of people into the game.

 

[muttleee]

Legendary golf commentary from Jacklin's win: "What a corker!"

 

[DCB]

The first golf that I really remember watching on TV was when Lee Trevino beat Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin at Muirfield in the 1972 Open Championship. I can still remember going out into the back garden and trying to chip the ball into a flowerpot that Saturday evening. Those were the days