Do people know what these 15 minutes of exercises are?
No because I wouldn’t tell them! They have to pay a lot of money for that information!
Who has been the biggest influence on your career as a teacher?
John Jacobs I think. Because he did it through thick and thin. Probably my biggest regret was that John used to try and help me with my golf swing but unfortunately you were either for John Jacobs or against John Jacobs. Everybody said he ruined more golf swings than he made, but that’s untrue. He is fantastic. He got so much stick and people got standoffish about him but I wish I had just gone, “John, come on, we’ll get it done”, and gone whole hog. And Jacobs would be like Leadbetter now. Leadbetter’s of the same era as me.
Hogan and Gary Player were massive influences on me. I was only 19 and got shipped out to Brazil and I got drawn with Gary Player for the first two rounds of the Brazilian Open. Wow! I’d only started playing golf when I was sixteen and three years later I was playing with Gary Player in the Brazilian Open!
You were 16 when you started playing?
Yeah, I wanted to play football but I got a very bad injury when I was 15. At 16 I turned pro without a handicap, that wouldn’t happen now. I desperately wanted to be a professional footballer and got this bad injury and they wouldn’t sign me. So I said stuff the football and found something else. I shouldn’t have done because I still like football better than golf! It was Sheffield Wednesday. They’d just lost the FA Cup final to Everton and they wouldn’t sign me and I was mortified!
I heard that the guy in the local golf club, Stuart Brown, was looking for an assistant and I saw him in a chip shop in Sheffield. So I went up to him and said “are you looking for an assistant?” and he said yes. I said, “I’ll do it for you”. He asked me what my handicap was and I said “well I’ll work as hard as you want me to”. He replied “okay, for your cheek I’ll give you a six month trial”. After six weeks of being there, he said I might as well play in the local tournament and I was up for it. 109, 100 I shot, and I was 16, but I finished. I lost three new balls out of bounds off the first tee and ended up holing a 40 foot putt for a 10 with my fourth ball. So I worked like hell for the next six months, and I played in the second tournament and I shot 79, 73, so he said, “I’ll keep you on”.
I’ve never had a handicap in my life. I’ve never been an amateur. That was 1967, straight from school. By 1970 I was in the Brazilian Open with Gary Player!
When I was 21 I slipped a disc and was out for two years which made me change my thoughts on the golf swing. It was bad technique that caused the injury. I used to hit thousands of balls on the local driving range. I turned the lights out every night. In 1979 when Seve won the Open at Lytham, I think I finished 33rd. I won 650 pounds and lost 200 pounds on the week. So I finished 33rd out of about 2000 people who entered and I lost money!
What’s been your lowest round?
59. It was on a par 66 so it was only 7 under, but 59 has been my lowest round. Apart from that in tournament play I had a 61. At one time I held 25 course records. I used to shoot really low, but it was hit and miss. My temperament got the better of me. I can understand these kids who get mad, because I used to get madder than anybody. I’m proof that poor temperament won’t get you anywhere. That and a poor putting stroke!
You’ve seen the majority of the great players in recent times, and played with many of greats, but who do you think is the best ball striker you’ve ever seen?
Who I’ve played with, at his peak Tom Watson, without a shadow of a doubt. I haven’t played with Tiger, but I would think he’s probably the best. Of that era Tom Watson was just stunning. Seve was great too, but Tom Watson was head and shoulders above the rest. These days, I think Tiger has taken the game to a different level. You wont see many people strike a ball better than Stenson. He has a stunning long game.
Are you worth the money that you charge your players? If you wanted to be taught by yourself, would you pay as much?
I’d pay twice as much! Seriously. That’s not being modest. The thing is, if they don’t play well, I don’t get paid. I work on commission, so it’s up to me. I like that challenge.
