Golf: Disqualification for embarrassed Jacklin

TONY JACKLIN's first taste of senior golf in Britain brought him the ultimate embarrassment yesterday - disqualification.

Jacklin was left red-faced at the scene of one of his greatest triumphs. In 1969 he won the Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes. Yesterday he returned to the same venue to make his bow in the Senior British Open, but it ended in bitter disappointment when he was disqualified after signing for a four at the 13th hole, when he had taken a five.

Jacklin's playing partner, Tom Wargo of the United States, made the mistake but the former Ryder Cup captain was forced to pack his bags for breaching Rule No 6.6D, which states: 'The competitor is responsible for the correctiveness of the score recorded at each hole. If he returns a score lower than the score actually taken, he shall be disqualified.'

Jacklin was in trouble after taking eight at the 11th, where the ball rebounded on to his chest as he tried to escape from a bunker. He was uncertain of the penalty but, after some discussion, it was agreed he should add two shots to his total. Jacklin completed his round in 81, nine over par.

'With all the trouble I had at the 11th and getting the penalty for that sorted out in the recorder's caravan at the end, I did not check my card closely enough,' he said. By the time he reached the 11th, he had already gone from one under par after four holes to two over.

'There was no way I could avoid it (hitting my chest),' Jacklin said. 'This has never happened to me before, and none of us knew what the penalty was.'

Arnold Palmer, who had been three strokes worse than Jacklin after four holes but played the next 14 in six under par for a total of 69, said: 'What's happened to Tony is too bad. I think he was just a little despondent about his round.'

Palmer, who hit an eagle at the 15th, is tied at the top of the first- round leaderboard wih Liam Higgins of Ireland and Italy's Alberto Croce.