British PGA At the start of 1962 Jacklin turned professional, becoming an assistant to
Bill Shankland at
Potters Bar Golf Club. Jacklin qualified for the
1963 Open Championship at
Royal Lytham. He played at Fairhaven where 39 places were available. Jacklin had rounds of 77 and 70 to qualify; those on 148 had to play off for places. In the championship itself Jacklin had rounds of 73 and 72 to make the cut comfortably and then had rounds of 76 and 74 on the last day to finish in a tie for 30th place. Later in 1963 he reached the last-32 of the
News of the World Match Play before losing to
Malcolm Gregson at the 20th hole, and was runner-up, with Gregson, in the
Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament. At the end of 1963 he was chosen by
Henry Cotton as his
Rookie of the Year. Having been runner-up in 1963, Jacklin won the 1964
Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament, a stroke ahead of
Adrian Sadler. The event was played at Hill Barn near
Worthing. He also had good performance in the
Blaxnit (Ulster) Tournament which was played in
Belfast. Jacklin finished tied for 3rd place after a last round 65. Jacklin played in South Africa in early 1965 but had little success. He received an entry into the 1965
Carling World Open, played in the United States in August, which had a $35,000 first prize. Jacklin made the cut, finished tied for 35th place and won $1,000 in prize money. However weather meant that the event did not finish until the Monday and Jacklin was due to play in the
Gor-Ray Cup, the Assistants' Championship, the following day, at Hartsbourne. Jacklin finished the season 12th in the Order of Merit. In early 1966 Jacklin made his second visit to South Africa. The visit was more successful that his first, with a third place finish in the
South African Masters and a joint victory in the Kimberley 4000 Tournament, to put him in 4th place in the money list with £903. In 1966 Jacklin won the
Blaxnit (Ulster) Tournament by 5 strokes and was runner-up in the
Rediffusion Tournament in Jersey. He finished 5th in the Order of Merit and won £2,715 on the circuit. Jacklin was selected, together with
Peter Alliss, for the England team for the
1966 Canada Cup in Japan, the pair finishing in 10th place. Jacklin stayed in New Zealand and won the 1967
New Zealand PGA Championship in early January, beating
Martin Roesink by 6 strokes in an 18-hole playoff. He then played in a few events in Australia, where he was joint third in the
Victorian Open, before playing a number of events on the
1967 Far East Circuit, including a runner-up finish in the
Thailand Open, before travelled to the United States to play in the
1967 Masters for which he had received an invitation. Jacklin was tied for 7th place after three rounds but a final round 77 dropped him into a tie for 16th place. In the Dunlop Masters he had a
hole-in-one at the 16th hole of the final round, televised live. In early October, Jacklin played in the
1967 PGA Tour Qualifying School, an 8-round event with 30 places available for the 1968 PGA Tour. Early rounds of 74-76-76 left him down the field, 18 strokes behind the leader, but he improved his position over the last 5 rounds and finished tied for 11th place, 12 shots behind the winner
Bobby Cole. The following week he played in his first Ryder Cup. Selection for the
1967 Ryder Cup team was based on a points system using performances in 1966 and 1967, finishing after the 1967 Open Championship. Jacklin was in 5th place, to get a place in the 10-man team. The United States won the match by 15 points. Jacklin played with
Dave Thomas on the opening two days, winning two and halving another of their matches. Jacklin played in both singles sessions on the final day, losing them both. It was the first win by a British player in an important American event since the 1920s. His win earned him $20,000 and he also won the prize for the lowest aggregate score in the four Florida events. Jacklin returned to Britain in July and finished tied for 18th in the
Open Championship at
Carnoustie. In October Jacklin made his debut in the
Piccadilly World Match Play Championship, losing to
Gary Player in the semi-finals, at the 37th hole. The
1969 Open Championship was held at
Royal Lytham in July. He had rounds of 68-70-70-72 for a total of 280, 5-under-par.
Bob Charles was two strokes behind with
Roberto De Vicenzo and
Peter Thomson a further stroke back. All the four players scored 72 on the final day. Jacklin was the first British winner of The Open since
1951. Jacklin was one of the other six that were chosen by committee the following week. Jacklin played in all four pair sessions on the opening two days, winning three matches and halving the other, He played
Jack Nicklaus in two singles matches on the final day, winning the morning match 4&3. Jacklin and Nicklaus later co-designed a golf course in Florida called "The Concession" to commemorate the moment. In the first half of 1969 Jacklin largely repeated his 1968 schedule, playing most weeks on the PGA Tour. He finished tied for 25th place in both tournaments. He won $3,850, a sum that lifted him to 60th in the official money list with $33,036 and meant he was exempt from qualifying for PGA Tour events in 1970. The win gave him a 10-year exemption from pre-qualifying for PGA Tour events. As previously Jacklin played on the PGA Tour in the first half of the year. He had some success in Europe towards the end of the year. He was runner-up to
Christy O'Connor in the
John Player Classic, winning £10,000, won the
W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament, lost to
Jack Nicklaus in the semi-final of the
Piccadilly World Match Play and won the
Lancome Trophy. Jacklin again did well in the
Open Championship at
Royal Birkdale, finishing solo third, two stroke behind the winner,
Lee Trevino. On the British circuit he won the
Benson & Hedges Festival in August, beating
Peter Butler in a playoff. Jacklin played twice with
Brian Huggett on the opening day, winning one match and halving the other, as the team took a narrow lead. However the United States dominated the second day and won comfortably. Jacklin suffered a devastating near-miss in the
1972 Open Championship at
Muirfield. Tied for the lead with playing partner
Lee Trevino playing the 71st hole, Jacklin had a straightforward 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 hole, while Trevino was not yet on the green after four struggling strokes. But Trevino holed a difficult
chip shot, and Jacklin took three putts, leaving him one shot behind. Trevino parred the final hole to win, but Jacklin bogeyed, finishing third behind
Jack Nicklaus. Jacklin was just 28 years old at the time, but never seriously contended again in a major championship. In 2013, Jacklin said of his experience in the 1972 Open: "I was never the same again after that. I didn't ever get my head around it – it definitely knocked the stuffing out of me somehow." After the Open Championship, Jacklin played in a number of events in Europe. He was runner-up in the
Swiss Open but then withdrew from the
PGA Championship. He won the
Viyella PGA Championship by 3 strokes from
Peter Oosterhuis, and had three other top-5 finishes in British tournaments including being runner-up to
Bob Charles in the
Dunlop Masters. He largely gave up playing on the PGA Tour until the end of 1974. He continued to play in major championships, but In 1973 he only played one other event on the tour, to defend the
Greater Jacksonville Open, and only two in 1974. He player more extensively on the
European Tour in those two seasons. He was also runner-up in the
French Open, the
Scandinavian Enterprise Open and the
John Player Classic. Jacklin won £7,000 for his Italian Open win and £7,500 for being runner-up in the
John Player Classic and led the prize money list for the season. However he only finished 7th in the points list for the Order of Merit. Selection for the Great Britain and Ireland team in the
1973 Ryder Cup at
Muirfield was based on a points list with points earned over a 12 months period up to August 1973. The leading 8 in the points list were guaranteed places and Jacklin, having played most of the events in this period finished in 3rd place. Jacklin was paired with
Peter Oosterhuis in all four pairs matches, winning two and halving another. In the singles he beat
Tommy Aaron but lost to
Billy Casper. Jacklin returned to the
PGA Tour in 1975 but had limited success. He won $10,824 in 1975 to be 123rd in the money list. 1976 and 1977 showed some improvement with winnings of $18,071 and $29,725, to be 111th and 83rd in the list. His best finish in this period was runner-up in the 1977
Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, a stroke behind
Tom Watson, earning him $22,800. Jacklin continued to play some events on the European Tour. He had one win in this period, the 1976
Kerrygold International Classic where he finished a stroke ahead of
Eddie Polland. Selection for the Great Britain and Ireland team in the
1975 Ryder Cup in America was based on performances in
1975 European Tour events. Jacklin was not in the leading 8 who were guaranteed places but he was selected as one of the four remaining places. Jacklin was paired with
Peter Oosterhuis in three pairs matches and with
Brian Huggett in the other, winning two and halving another of his four matches. However, he lost both of his singles matches on the final day. Jacklin halved his foursomes match, lost in the fourball and was not selected for the singles. He won the 1979
Braun German Open, the 1981
Billy Butlin Jersey Open and the 1982
Sun Alliance PGA Championship after a playoff against
Bernhard Langer. In 1979 Jacklin was 9th in the Order of Merit but dropped to 42nd in 1980. He was 13th in 1981, 20th in 1982, 63rd in 1983 before dropping out of the top 100 in 1984. Jacklin made his final Ryder Cup appearance in
1979, the first time European players were included. He finished 8th in the points list with the leading 10 gaining places automatically. Jacklin played three matches with
Sandy Lyle, winning one and halving another, but lost narrowly in his singles match against
Tom Kite.
Ryder Cup captain Jacklin was the non-playing captain of Europe in four consecutive Ryder Cups from 1983 to 1989. He had a 2.5–1.5 won-loss record, captaining his men to their first victory in 28 years in 1985 and to their first ever victory in the United States in 1987.
Senior career Jacklin played regularly on the
Senior PGA Tour from 1994 to 1997. He won twice on the tour, the
First of America Classic in 1994 and the
Franklin Quest Championship in 1995. ==Personal life==