article by Nicola Pucci
Curiously, Anthony’s competitive adventure “Tony“Jacklin experienced his period of greatest splendor when, usually, a golfer still has to refine the experience necessary to excel in major events. Read to believe.
An Englishman from Scunthorpe, born in 1944, Tony was introduced to golf by his father Arthur, a lorry driver by trade, and since he was a young man he has demonstrated uncommon qualitieswinning on four consecutive occasions and with a wide margin over his opponents, the Lincolnshire junior championship. E in 1962, just 18 years old, he already turned professional, managing to qualify for the Open Championship the following yearwhich takes place at Royal Lytham & St.Annes Golf Club and which sees him not only easily pass the cut with two first rounds in 73 and 72 shots, but then finishing in a more than honorable 30th position. Which earned him the election, at the end of the year, of Rookye of the year.
Jacklin grows well and quickly, climbing the merit rankings, and if in 1964 it achieved its first affirmation al Coombe Hill Assistants’ Tournamentin the following four years he imposed himself not only on European soil, but also on the South African and New Zealand circuits, also finishing fifth in the 1967 Open Championshipal Royal Liverpool Golf Clubseven points behind the winner, the Argentine Roberto De Vicenzo, after also highlighting himself at the Masters, seventh at the end of the first 36 holes and then finishing in 16th place. Deserving his first call-up for the Ryder Cupin Houston, bringing, paired with Charles Thomas, 2 and a half points which are not enough to prevent the United States from prevailing with a very clear 231⁄2 to 81⁄2.
And when the following year, 1968, Jacklin, who had secured his card to play on the PGA Tour, achieved his first victory triumphing on March 31st at Jacksonville Open Invitational with 2 shots ahead of Gardner Dickinson, Don January, Chi-Chi Rodriguez, Doug Sanders and DeWitt Weaver, the exploit is not only historic, because an Englishman hadn’t won on the PGA Tour since the 1920s, but it also opens Tony’s golden two-year period, who during the year is 22nd at the Masters and 18th at the Open Championship played at Carnoustie Golf Links.
When nel 1969 l’Open Championship return to the meadows of Royal Lytham & St.Annes Golf Clubright there where Tony had made his debut 6 years earlier, It’s been 18 years since the English raised the Claret Jug, how Max Faulkner managed it, last but not least, at Portrush. AND if the New Zealander Bob Charles leads the competition for the first 36 holes, Jacklin takes the lead at the end of a third round in which he scores 70 strokes, arriving on Sunday with a 2 stroke advantage on Charles himself and on the Irish Christy O’Connor snr., with De Vicenzo and the Australian Peter Thomson trailing by 3 shots. Tony, who at the Masters in the spring missed the cut in a tournament for the first time in his career Majorand then finished 25th at both the US Open and the PGA Championship, on the last lap he equaled the score of his closest pursuers in 72 strokes, and in the evening, with 280 strokes overall, 5 under par for the field, he brought the most coveted trophy back to England. Also, deserving the inclusion among the immortals of golf, as only victory in a Slam can guarantee.
In September of the same year Jacklin was the protagonist of one of the most memorable editions of the Ryder Cup. It is played at Royal Birkdale Golf Club of Southport, and if finally the two teams end in a draw, 16-16, which allows the United States to retain the trophy, Tony not only wins the two matches paired with Peter Townsend and the one played alongside Neil Coles, then drawing against Lee Trevino and Miller Barber, but the last day gives rise to two unforgettable challenges with Jack Nicklaus, winning the first and drawing the second, when, after having caught up with the American with an eagle at 5pm, he saw his opponent concede the final putt from just under a meter for a par which ended at 16-16. “The concession“, that last shot will be called, and that it is synonymous with fairplay is clear with the two champions leaving the field with their arms on each other’s shoulders.
Already certain of his place in golf history, Jacklin, just over 25 years old, was preparing to overturn another taboo in 1970, namely that of putting an English signature on the US Open roll of honour.as Cyril Walker was able to do way back in 1924. 12th at the Masters in April and defeated in the playoff by Pete Brown atAndy Williams San Diego OpenTony from 18 to 21 June does not miss the appointment at Hazeltine National Golf Club of Chaska, Minnesota, playing flawless golf from the first round, the only golfer under par in 71 shots on a day complicated by strong winds. “Stit blew louder in England, and the more it blows, the more I like it“, this is the summary comment of the British champion, justifying a score that goes against the trend with Arnold Palmer’s 79 strokes, Gary Player’s 80 and Jack Nicklaus’ 81, the three greats of world golf.
70 shots in both the second and third rounds give Jacklin the chance to tee off for the final 18 holes with a 4-shot lead over Dave Hill, the only other player under par (-1), with Gay Brewer (+1), Julius Boros (+2) and Bob Lunn (+3) reasonably the only ones still in the running for the final victory. But despite two bogeys on the 7th and 8th holes, Jacklin scored a birdie by putting in a long putt on the 9th that rejected the illusions of his opponents, ultimately unable to match a last round, again, closed in 70 strokes. Tony triumphs with 7 strokes under parand if Hill closes at par, no one really can dispute the fact that Jacklin dominated the 70th edition of the US Open from start to finish.
After being fifth in 1970 and third in 1971 (2 strokes behind Lee Trevino and also behind the Chinese Taiwanese Lu Liang-Huan) at the Open Championship, In 1972 Jacklin achieved what would later be his last victory on the PGA Tourstill at Greater Jacksonville Openovercoming John Jacobs in the playoffs, and then, unknowingly, running into that no-moment that would mark his career.
L’Open Championship 1972 you play at Muirfield Golf Linkse on the par 5 of the 71st hole Jacklin is tied for the lead with Lee Trevino, who plays with him in the last team that decides the tournament. Tony has to hit the fourth shot, a 4.5 meter putt that would be worth birdie, while his opponent plays the fifth shot from off the green. And here’s where the big deal happens, because while Trevino holes the approach that earns him par, Jacklin needs 3 putts for the bogey which sends him back 1 shot behind his rival, which then becomes 2 with another bogey on the 18th hole which not only gives Trevino the victory, but he gives Jack Nicklaus, who was 1 stroke behind, the opportunity to overtake him in the rankings thus grabbing the second final position.
Jacklin is only 28 years old, but he will never seriously star again in a major tournament. “Since that 1972 Open Championship I have never been the same. I have never been able to understand why, somehow that failure definitely put me to the test“. Applause however for a great golfer.
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2023-10-27 07:30:20
#GOLDEN #YEARS #TONY #JACKLIN #BROUGHT #CLARET #JUG #ENGLAND #SportHistoria
