The Englishman won 18 times on the DP World Tour from 1978 to 1997 making 574 appearances, he was named Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 1976 and made it onto seven Ryder Cup teams.
He is perhaps most well-known though for his time as European Ryder Cup captain at Brookline in 1999. Criticised for some of his wildcard selections and then embroiled in the controversy following the USA’s over-zealous celebrations – he wrote a book about it all “Into the Bear Pit”, with a follow-up detailing his later fight against testicular cancer.
He became the first player from Europe to become a Senior Major champion by winning the Senior Players Championship in 2004 and his first Legends Tour title followed a year later.
“Jesse”, as he is affectionately known, would beat Sam Torrance in a play-off to the European Senior Masters title and then emerge victorious from another play-off, this time against Eamonn Darcy, in the 2009 Mallorca Senior Open.