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The Two Jakes

Golf and good times came so easily to John Jacobs that his tour career evaporated before he knew it. He turned pro at 22 in 1967 and set off on a decade dominated by long drives and long nights in the company of other party-prone journeymen. His PGA Tour earnings amounted to less than $120,000. It could have been much more.

Big brother Tommy, 10 years older and 20 times more serious, was an accomplished tour player whose career highlights included agonizingly close calls at the 1964 U.S. Open and the 1966 Masters.

But this isn't a story about regrets. John, a Champions Tour fixture who has avoided salaried employment his whole adult life, lives today in an enclave of the sporting elite in Scottsdale. He's just off a fairway at the posh Phoenician resort and just down the street from Hale Irwin, Wayne Gretzky and Randy Johnson. John's wife, Valerie, who once owned a chain of 80 shoe stores, is a millionaire in her own right.

Straight arrow and loose cannon, the Jacobs brothers have been a study in opposites. Tommy was diligent by nature, rising at dawn to hit balls — "and pick them up myself," he adds — before school in Southern California. That ethic paid off when he won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 1951. In addition to a solid playing career, Tommy served on the policy board "that started the revolt" leading to the modern-day PGA Tour. Since then, he's had a long stint as director of golf at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. Today he owns and operates a nine-hole executive course called Tommy Jacobs' Bel Air Greens in Palm Springs.

Tommy concurs: "In 1958, I roomed with Tony Lema. John and Tony were a lot alike. When it came to taking the right way and heading home from a party, more often they'd take the wrong way and stay all night. I worked my butt off. The game came to John much easier. I helped him, but he's a natural player. That could have been part of his downfall."

Tommy Jacobs had four PGA Tour wins and nearly broke through to stardom in the mid-1960s. In the '64 U.S. Open at Congressional in Washington, D.C., renowned for Ken Venturi's victory in the suffocating heat, it was Tommy whom Venturi overtook. "I led after rounds two and three, then made a bogey on the 63rd hole, which Ken birdied to take the lead for good," says Tommy. "The heat was brutal — 114 degrees with 98 percent humidity at one point."

Ironically, 10 years prior, Venturi and Tommy had been soldiers stationed in Austria, sharing a G.I. Christmas dinner. "We talked about the future," recalls Venturi. "Tommy thought he'd go back to working for his dad at a golf course [the Jacobs' father had been parks and recreation director for the City of Los Angeles] and I thought I'd be back selling cars for my dad."

At the 1966 Masters, Tommy was in a three-way playoff with Gay Brewer and defending champ Jack Nicklaus, who rallied down the stretch. "They said Jack's short game was his weakness, but four times he got up and down on that back nine," Tommy remembers.

In 1968, as Tommy's career began to fade, John made it through Q-School. He took well to the tour lifestyle, enjoying first-class travel perks obtained through his older brother What Tommy failed to pass along to John was his work ethic. "I was my own worst enemy," admits John. "I'd say, 'When I'm 25, I'll try a little harder.' Then it was, 'When I'm 30' and so on. Then back problems came and my career disappeared." He spent much of the 1980s gambling, on the course at La Costa and at the race track in Del Mar. Then John discovered the Asian tour and things clicked. He won the Taiwan Open twice, savoring the personal experience as much as the paydays. "I made good friends there," he says. "Got treated like royalty."

Two Asian money titles proved to John he could still compete. He turned his thoughts to the Champions Tour (then called the Senior PGA Tour), joining it in 1995. He's won five times since, highlighted by the 2003 Senior PGA at Aronimink Golf Club. "That was by far the high point of my career," he says. "Now it's hard to get excited about regular golf. The U.S. Open and the PGA are the ultimate on the senior tour, especially when you're 58."

Psyching up for the weekly tournament would be easier for John if money had more importance to him, but that's never been the case. After one Asian win streak, he came home with "suitcases full of money," according to a fellow Yank playing in Asia that year, Jim Rutledge, who adds: "I heard his brother took a lot of it so John wouldn't blow it."

Not true, says Tommy. "It wasn't me. He wouldn't let me get near his money. Ray Kawana, one of John's sponsors, took a big chunk and doled it out to him."

That's not exactly true either, clarifies John. "When I got back, I hid the money in the refrigerator. We had a big party that night, and got so drunk that the next day Ray and I couldn't find it. I was depressed all day. But when I was fixing a drink that night, I opened the freezer to get some ice, and there was no ice in there." Just cold cash.

Mark Stewart. The Two Jakes. Links Magazine. Mar 2004.

Tommy Jacobs

Tommy Jacobs' consistent play at the 1966 Masters earned him a spot in a playoff against Jack Nicklaus and Gay Brewer. Jacobs had a questionable start during the playoff, bouncing multiple drives off trees, but he recovered to make a fair showing. Nicklaus won the event by two strokes.

Tommy Jacobs never did win a major, but he recorded four PGA TOUR victories in his career. He spent 15 years as the director of golf at La Costa Country Club and tournament director of the Tournament of Champions. He has dabbled in course design, as well.

John Jacobs

Grew up on a golf course as a child as his father was director of parks and recreation for the city of Los Angeles...Was assisted in the development of his game by his brother, Tommy, a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR...His dream foursome would include his brother, Arnold Palmer and Walter Hagen, with maybe Ben Hogan thrown in to offset Hagen...Enjoys horse racing and says if he could have one job outside of golf it would be having the opportunity to call a race at a track.

Enjoys Italian food...Favorite athletes are Michael Jordan and Arnold Palmer...Selects Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt as the two people in history he would most like to meet because their decisions changed our world...Biggest thrills in golf were making the Champions Tour and winning 2003 Senior PGA Championship...Good friend of fellow Champions Tour player Gary McCord.

Earned fully-exempt status by finishing T2 at the 1995 Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament...Made his debut on the Champions Tour in 1995, shortly after turning 50, and Monday-qualified for three events.

Shell's Wonderful World of Golf - Volume 29: Shell's Wonderful World of Golf was a weekly television series that aired from 1962 through 1970 and was the first golf matches ever filmed for a television series. This video is a golf match between Bruce Devlin and Tommy Jacobs played at Golf Club of Rome, in Italy and aired January 7, 1967. Set among the hills of Rome, the Golf Club of Rome offers a history lesson with each round. Flowing through ancient ruins, the 6,500 yard, par 72 design features strategically placed pine trees and meandering streams, making for a challenging test on any day. Bruce Devlin came to the United States from down under in 1962 and stayed on to win eight PGA Tour events. He represented his native Australia in five World Cup competitions and designed more than 140 golf courses around the world. A holder of four PGA titles, Tommy Jacobs gained prominence at the 1964 US Open when he came in second to Ken Venturi. A member of the 1965 Ryder Cup Team, Jacobs was also runner up at the 1966 Masters.

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