Time Jacklin was made a knight to remember...
IN THE House of Commons last week, the first steps were taken to correct a shocking sporting oversight.
In the aftermath of Europe’s recent Ryder Cup victory, Nic Dakin, Labour MP for Scunthorpe, highlighted the historic role played by arguably the town’s most famous son, Tony Jacklin, in the evolution of the contest and called for him to receive a knighthood.
It was good to see Dakin’s campaign receive enthusiastic backing from both the Speaker, John Bercow, and the Leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom. This is certainly a cause that deserves cross-party support.
Jacklin should have been knighted years ago for his huge contribution to British sporting life.
He is the architect of the modern Ryder Cup. So many of the devices employed by the European team in Paris — from the camaraderie in the team room to the value of extra wildcard picks — were introduced by Jacklin during his four stints as captain in the 1980s.
There is not much point trawling over old ground as to why he has not been so honoured yet — far better to dwell on the fact that there could not be a better time to put it right.
Next year will see the 50th anniversary of Jacklin’s Open win at Royal Lytham, the first by a British golfer since Arnold Palmer began the mighty American invasion at the start of the 1960s.
Twelve months later, at a time when Jack Nicklaus, Palmer and Lee Trevino were in their prime, he won the US Open by a street.
As Dakin pointed out, you have to trawl through ancient history and the days of Channel Islanders Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in the first half of the last century to find the only other British golfers to have achieved that particular double.
Next year will also mark a half-century since perhaps the most famous Ryder Cup gesture of all, when Nicklaus showed the immense respect he had for Jacklin by conceding a 2ft putt in the final singles match so the biennial contest at Royal Birkdale finished in a tie for the first time.
Next July will also see Jacklin celebrate his 75th birthday. As ever these days, he will leave his winter base in Florida for a summer spent in these isles, entertaining golfers with his rich stories about those famous days of yore.
Let us hope by then he will have followed in the footsteps of those other British golfing knights, Sir Henry Cotton and Sir Nick Faldo, and he is finally introduced as Sir Tony.