Tony Jacklin

English golfer who won the Open Championship and U.S. Open in successive years, then became Europe's most successful Ryder Cup captain, transforming the competition's fortunes through the 1980s.

Born on 7 July 1944 in Scunthorpe, England, Tony Jacklin turned professional in 1962 and was named Rookie of the Year by Henry Cotton the following year. He broke through in 1969, winning the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes by two strokes over Bob Charles, becoming the first British winner since 1951 and the most successful British player of his generation. Jacklin followed this with an even more remarkable achievement in 1970, winning the U.S. Open at Hazeltine by seven strokes to become the first Englishman to win the title in 50 years. His four peak seasons from 1969 to 1972 established him as Britain's brightest golf star, though a runner-up finish behind Lee Trevino at the 1972 Open — his 'toughest loss' — marked a turning point, and he never contended seriously in a major again. Jacklin played in seven Ryder Cups for Great Britain and Ireland, sharing in the famous 1969 tie decided by Jack Nicklaus's celebrated concession of Jacklin's final putt, a moment of sportsmanship later commemorated in the naming of The Concession golf course, which the pair designed together. His true legacy, however, came as European Ryder Cup captain across four consecutive editions from 1983 to 1989, during which he transformed the competition's fortunes, leading Europe to victory in 1985 — the first defeat of the United States in 28 years — and again in 1987, the first European win on American soil. Jacklin's 1989 captaincy ended in a tie that allowed Europe to retain the Cup, capping a run that reshaped the Ryder Cup into the fiercely contested modern event it remains. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002 and appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1990.

Confident, attacking player at his peak, later a inspirational and tactically astute captain

Widely credited with revitalising both British golf and the Ryder Cup as a competitive event