The no-nonsense Hogan benched Palmer for one session the morning after Palmer made a low flyover of the course in his private plane.
Jacklin and his veteran partner, Dave Thomas, proved a formidable pair for the visitors in the foursomes, knocking off Brewer and Sanders, 4 and 3, in the morning round and Gene Littler and Al Geiberger, 3 and 2, in the afternoon.
"We jelled well," Jacklin says. "Dave was a terrible chipper. The par 3s at Champions are long with difficult carries, and all are even-numbered holes followed by par 5s, so he hit on the 3s, and I chipped if he missed the green. I chipped on the 5s, too. I was 23, just finding my sea legs. I had won a couple tour events in the U.K. that summer and just got my tour card over here in the States. I got thrown into the deep end to learn."
The Americans had looked uncomfortable in the unfamiliar foursome format early, but turned it on in the four-balls. Only Jacklin and Thomas scraped out a halve against Littler and Geiberger in the final match of the day, which the Brits claimed should have been stopped because of darkness. Thomas said he could not see the line on a short birdie putt at the end that would have won the match.
Finally, I will never, ever forget the week-ending Auld Lang Syne dinner given by the sponsoring PGA of America. We media types, the mere smattering of us, were invited to such functions in those days, before the event became so outsized that our access to captains and players was limited to mass interviews in the press center (there was no television with its vast crews in '67 either). That night we visited chummily with the newsmakers under circumstances that became increasingly relaxed as the libations flowed.
Even Hogan was somewhat at ease, if not effusive. I still have a large, handsome dinner program that was circulated and signed by the players and captains. Hogan's signature reflects the legend and his personality: It is taut and entirely legible, as if from an old-fashioned penmanship exam. I hear that such a program recently sold in Great Britain for $8,000. Mine is not for sale.
Excerpted from The Ryder Cup: Golf's Greatest Event by Martin Davis; published by The American Golfer, scheduled release: November 2008; $60.00; available at fine bookstores or direct from publisher, 203-862-9720; 250 pages.
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