Jacklin

the long version

It is thirty-six years since the son of a Scunthorpe lorry driver beat the Americans on their home turf in the US Open - and still Tony Jacklin is the last Briton to lift that hallowed trophy. Coming on the back of his success in the British Open the previous year, 1969, Jacklin's triumph marked a seismic shift in the balance of golfing power, and the start of a transatlantic rivalry based on genuine competitiveness that endures to this day. It is no accident that it was under Jacklin's captaincy that the European Ryder Cup team found its edge, and in 1985 regained the trophy from the Americans for the first time since 1957. Tony is now fêted as the godfather of the modern game and an icon to young players. In his first full autobiography, he looks back on his remarkable life and charts his progress from apprentice steelworker to golf legend.