"As a young man I would practice on my own for hundreds of hours and in my mind Ben Hogan was always standing over my right shoulder making a critique of every shot. In my mind I was always coming down the 18th having to play an incredibly difficult shot to win the Open."

The hard work paid off with victories in Europe and Jacklin's dreams soon began to come true. To achieve them, he traveled across the Atlantic to compete against the best players in America. It wasn't long before he won the Jacksonville Open in 1968 and in doing so became the first Briton to win on the PGA TOUR. He became a national hero in 1969 and sparked a revival of golf among British youth when he became the first British player since Max Faulkner in 1951 to win the British Open at Royal Lytham.

"It always seemed a miscarriage of justice that no British player had for so many years proved himself to be a real champion at the highest international level," said Arnold Palmer, in the foreword to Jacklin's autobiography. "Tony has put the matter aright and I salute him."

"This was my Everest, and no one can ever take away the recollection of that moment when I sat on its peak," he wrote in his book, Jacklin: The Champion's Own Story, of capturing the British Open.

One year later Jacklin achieved even greater heights when he became the first player since Ben Hogan to hold both the U.S. and British Open titles simultaneously upon his triumph at Hazeltine Golf Club. Jacklin endured extraordinary conditions, including 40mph winds that howled through the Great Plains. He shot 71 in the first round on a day when Arnold Palmer posted 79, Gary Player 80, and Jack Nicklaus 81. Jacklin led from start to finish and was the only player to break par in the tournament. He holed a 30-foot birdie putt at the last hole to put an exclamation mark on a glorious week. Few champions ever traveled to glory in as steady a march or by as decisive a margin of victory. His seven-stroke triumph was the largest margin in 49 years. Jacklin also became the first British player to win the U.S. Open since Ted Ray in 1920.

"I walked on water that week. Hazeltine was unquestionably the best week of golf I've ever had in my life," Jacklin said. "It was as near a perfect week as I have ever experienced."

Jacklin nearly won his second British Open in 1972. He and Lee Trevino remained tied for the lead and one stroke in front of clubhouse leader Jack Nicklaus as they reached the 17th hole. Already hitting his fourth shot to the par-5, Trevino's next effort sailed long to the upslope behind the green. He tossed his club to the ground in disgust. Meanwhile Jacklin was sitting pretty on the putting surface 18 feet from the hole and studying his birdie effort. What happened next will be forever part of British Open lore. Without as much as a practice swing, Trevino nonchalantly hit his pitch and impatiently walked after the ball. As it continued to roll on a path to the hole Trevino slowed and watched in disbelief as it fell into the hole for par.

"It was a give up," recalled Trevino, "I had already told Jacklin, 'Take it on out, baby. I'm cooked. I'm done. Stick a fork in me.'"

Jacklin's 18-footer raced more than three feet past the hole and he missed the comebacker too. Shockingly, Trevino marched to the 18th tee with a one-stroke lead and a par at the last secured the victory.

"I've watched film of what happened again and again, and I wince every time I see it," Jacklin confesses.

Jacklin continued to win tournaments, and topped the 1973 European Tour Order of Merit, but he never seriously contended in the majors again. Still, he left a lasting mark on the game and resuscitated British interest in golf. Watching in the grandstand during the final round of Jacklin's victory in the 1969 British Open was a young boy named Sandy Lyle, who would succeed Jacklin as the next home winner.

"He gave the impetus for the modern European Tour to be started on the back of Tony's success and the marvelous energy that he brought at that time to British and European golf," says Ken Schofield, Executive Director of the European PGA Tour.

By the time he captured the 1982 British PGA Championship, golf had lost much of its luster for Jacklin. "I had had enough," Jacklin readily admits. "Golf was the only thing that I did that didn't make me happy so I stopped doing it. I said, 'that's it.'"

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