Tony Johnstone, a true son of the African soil, is now 61 but retains a youthful zest for life, writes MICHAEL VLISMAS in Compleat Golfer.
When Johnstone speaks about the trial drug that cured him of multiple sclerosis, he says the words that encapsulate his life: ‘I’ve been a very lucky boy.’
With 24 professional victories, six of them on the European Tour, Johnstone is rooted in a personal satisfaction with what he’s achieved in the game.
‘Somebody once told me I have been an overachiever. I saw that as a tremendous compliment. I think if you’d said I was an underachiever, it would have been an insult for me. But I squeezed out just as much as I could from my career.
‘I’ve enjoyed every second of it. For a little okie from Bulawayo with an unorthodox swing and limited talent, I worked hard and achieved what I set out to do. I’ve never been disappointed with that. A Major would’ve been nice, but I never came close. I was never a good enough long putter.
‘But I think it’s great to be able to say at the end of my career that I’m pretty chuffed with what I achieved. I tried everything and enjoyed it.’
That doesn’t mean the game didn’t frustrate him just as much as it does everybody else. Or that it didn’t bring out the worst in him at times.
‘Golf has given me an enormous amount of pleasure and success. But in terms of frustration levels, yes, maybe I did play the wrong sport. I spent 35 years on Tour trying to conquer my temper and didn’t beat it.
‘There were times I came off the golf course pretty tired from fighting my temper. I was determined not to let it happen again, and then it would the next day. I was exhausting myself. But if you said to me, you can do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing. No doubt in my mind. We had so much fun.’
And that is the underlying message to come out of Johnstone’s career – that through it all, he’s had fun. It’s perhaps not surprising that this should be the case, because his start in the game was, as he puts it, a complete fluke.
‘I think I was about 11 years old when we took a family holiday to Leopard Rock in Zimbabwe. It wasn’t the fancy resort it is now. Back then it was more like this old colonial hotel. It looked a bit like a castle.
‘They had a nine-hole golf course, and the manager announced that the next day he expected every guest to play in a fun tournament they were holding. We didn’t know a thing about golf. They gave us rental sets and off we went.
‘My dad and I hacked around, and on the last hole there was this big boulder in the fairway. My dad hit the best shot of the day there. The old man absolutely nailed this shot, and it hit the boulder and came back at me like a rocket. I put my arm up and the ball smashed into my elbow joint. So I suppose you can say that right there is when I literally had golf drummed into me.’
Upon returning home to Bulawayo, Johnstone convinced his father to buy him some second-hand clubs.
‘I had a 5-iron and a wedge, and I spent hours hitting shots around the garden and over the rose bushes and so on. Within six months I had decided that all I wanted to be was a professional golfer.’
Johnstone turned professional in 1979, and in 1984 he won the South African Open and South African Masters – a feat he repeated in 1993. His first victory on the European Tour was the 1984 Portuguese Open.
‘Every win was intensely pleasurable. But if I had to pick four big ones for me, it was my first SA Open in 1984, winning the Zimbabwe Open in 1993, then the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth in 1992, and then funny enough the Jersey Seniors Classic in 2008. That last one was special, as I’d been told I’d never play golf again because of the MS. So to come out and prove everybody wrong with that win was ridiculously special.’
Another impressive record that Johnstone holds, is over Ernie Els. ‘We had three head-to-heads in South Africa and I beat him each time. After beating him at the 1993 SA Open at Durban Country Club I remember he said, ”Jeez, Tony. I don’t know why I just can’t beat you, man.” When one of the world’s greatest golfers says that to you, you feel like you’re walking on air.’
Johnstone considers himself fortunate to have played with many of golf’s greatest, excepting Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
But the more special moments for him have involved his friends on Tour.
‘I was lucky to have Blandy [John Bland] as my buddy on the European Tour for 16 years. We had the South African public completely fooled. We abused each other so much they all thought we hated each other. But he was always my best buddy.
‘I always loved the practice range on Tour because that’s where you’d laugh with your buddies and give each other stick. My son Dale was 12 when I once took him to the practice range, and every guy we walked past abused me. In the hotel room that afternoon he said to me, “Dad, why do you keep coming out here when every single person hates you”. I laughed and told him they don’t hate me, they’re my friends. That was a major fun side of the game for me.’
It still is in his role as a commentator on the European Tour for Sky where Johnstone loves to call it as straight as he can on TV, while observing the obvious bounds he still has to work within. And he doesn’t shy away from any topic, be it his opinions on the golf ball, or the money in the game.
‘Nowadays players can play 20 events a year, never win and make a million at the end of it. I think it’s taken the urgency away from being a winner. Also, there are so many hangers-on. I was at Firestone Country Club recently and one of the players had 13 people with him. Managers, dieticians, physios, psychologists and all these people. In my opinion they’re all just hangers-on sucking the money out of Tour pros. And you hear some of the stuff these people are telling players on the range – it’s absolute rubbish. How do some of these people call themselves coaches?
‘And something has to be done about the golf ball. The modern ball has reduced the skill factor in the game to simply a case of crush it, find it, wedge it and putt it. It’s taking the pleasure and skill out of the game.
‘But what I love about modern golf is the young crop of players who are carrying the flag for the game. You’ve got guys like Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Brandon Stone, and then a bit older in Adam Scott and Justin Rose. These are good young men to be standard-bearers for the game.’
And with his love for the younger generation of players, with whom he often has lunch at tournaments, as well as the friendly banter in the game, it is hardly surprising that Johnstone is relishing his role as one of the assistants for Nick Price’s International team at The Presidents Cup.
‘I’ve known Nick since I was 11 years old and I was honoured that he asked me to be an assistant for the third time. We have a great sense of camaraderie in the International team. But we do have to work harder than the Americans to achieve this, because our players are from different tours and backgrounds.
‘The bottom line is the Presidents Cup International team never has home-ground advantage, like the Americans, because of all the countries involved. So we do a bit extra to get the guys bonded. We do everything to make sure they’re comfortable and happy by the time the Cup starts.’
If there is one thing today’s generation can take from Johnstone it’s to keep things simple and get on with it. Even when it comes to something as life-threatening as MS.
‘You know, I’m 61 now and just about everybody has some big health scare along the way. You get to this age where a lot of your friends have cancer and prostate problems, and everybody has an issue. You take the cards you’re dealt, put a smile on your face and get on with it.
‘My folks instilled that in me. Coming from Zimbabwe was a great upbringing, but also tough. You appreciated everything. Military service instilled a sense of discipline in you. Nature has also always been the best way for me to recharge my batteries. I’m no happier than when I’m in the bundu. I feel I fit better there than anywhere else in this world.
‘But from an early age, my old man said you’ve only got one shot at life, so you better enjoy it. And besides, you’re going to be dead for a lot longer.’
Through it all, Johnstone finds the pure joy in life. Even during an interview with Golfing World, when he’s explaining how a specialist initially treated his MS with steroids. Johnstone looks at the camera and jokes about the biggest disappointment of that being, ‘It didn’t put any more yardage on my drives.’
CAREER WINS
1984 – Portuguese Open, South African Open, Charity Classic, South African Masters
1986 – Goodyear Classic
1987 – ICL International, Minolta Copiers Match Play, Wild Coast Classic
1988 – ICL International, Minolta Copiers Match Play, Bloemfontein Classic
1989 – South African PGA Championship
1990 – Murphy’s Cup, Palabora Classic
1991 – Murphy’s Cup
1992 – Volvo PGA Championship
1993 – South African Masters, Zimbabwe Open, South African Open
1994 – Bell’s Cup
1998 – Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship
2001 – Qatar Masters
2008 – Jersey Seniors Classic
2009 – Travis Perkins Senior Masters
– This article first appeared in the October issue of Compleat Golfer, on sale now
