From his English Amateur victory in 1974 to his Ryder Cup captaincy at Brookline in 1999, he has always been confident of his beliefs and has remained committed to the game and the task in hand throughout.
The 1999 Ryder Cup was probably one of the more infamous matches. A controversial few days, won by the USA, but marred by alleged over-zealous celebrations from the home team as well as criticism for James regarding his wild card picks. However, James would not change a thing and his book Into the Bear Pit is a fascinating read about all that happened that year.
James played in a total of seven Ryder Cups representing Great Britain and Ireland, as well as the now European team.
James was the first player from Europe to win a Senior Major title, the Senior Players Championship in 2004, winning by a stroke from José Maria Cañizares.
With ‘Jesse’, a popular member of the tour, there is always a wry smile and a dry sense of humour, as demonstrated from the commentator’s booth. Similarly to his good friend, Sam Torrance, there is a good story to tell and having been part of a golf tour for five decades, there is plenty to talk about.